


Snips and snails and puppy dog tails

by SkilledWarriorKiwi



Series: MGS meme prompts [1]
Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Animal Death, Attempted Murder, Awkward Crush, Blood and Gore, Bonding, Bonding Over Murder, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Eye Gouging, Friendship between two murderous children, Gen, Gender Confusion, Harm to Animals, Harm to Children, Hurt/Comfort, Jealousy, Mantis is a troll no matter his age, Mild Gore, Mind Meld, Misgendering, Mission 51, Mother Base, Muteness, Psychic Bond, Puppy Love, Revenge, Suicide Attempt, Telepathic Bond, Though it's mainly Eli and Tretij harming them, To An Extent, Troubling Un-childlike Behaviour, Twisted and Fluffy Feelings, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-03
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-05-02 06:05:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 43,476
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5237171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkilledWarriorKiwi/pseuds/SkilledWarriorKiwi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <a href="http://mgs-kink.dreamwidth.org/757.html?thread=150517#cmt150517">MGS meme prompt.</a>
</p>
<p>"When Eli sees Mantis for the first time he thinks he's a girl and promptly develops a crush. Mantis thinks it's hilarious and doesn't bother to correct him. Que Eli trying to show off how manly and amazing he is. Then escalating to weird, awkward gentlemanly behaviour. Like trying to hold doors open and putting his jacket over puddles. Mantis being like have you ever seen me walk? But going with it because it's hilarious. Then Eli trying to give him weird gifts because Mother Base isn't exactly a Hallmark. Dead flowers, sugar packets from the cafeteria, bootlace necklace with the shiniest things he can find. Finally Mantis takes pity on him and tells him he's a boy. How he takes it is up to you but bonus if he doesn't care and they hold hands into the sunset. Obviously nothing sexier than cheek kisses and hand holding."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was into his first week at Mother Base that Eli heard rumours and whispering about some creepy child which seemed to put the whole Base at unease. At first Eli thought they were talking about him since none of the Mother Base soldiers had high opinions of him- an opinion he shared back at them -but as he crept closer along the catwalk so he was above the two soldiers who he'd overheard mention 'the child' it soon became very obvious that it wasn't the case.

The two soldiers were leaning against the railing over one of the massive platforms, talking low enough Eli had to press himself against the grating in order to catch the tail end of the conversation. He ignored the metal digging into his cheek as he flattened himself against the catwalk, keeping his breath low and light. Hours of sneaking around the base and Eli was fairly confidant these so-called 'soldiers' wouldn't pick up his presence at all.

He was fairly frustrated when they stopped the conversation in order to light some cigarettes and Eli wrinkled his nose as the foul smell reached him but thankfully the two carried talking without anymore interruptions.

The leftmost soldier spoke first, "No, I'm telling you it's what happened. And I don't mean all that sick shit that Skull Face guy was doing in The Devil's House but more of that creepy kid that's always following him around."

"Yeah, I heard about that brat," the other man replied, nonchalantly flicking some ash off his cigarette, "Real creepy if you ask me. Is that kid even human?"

"Doubt it- I mean the kids the Boss dug out of Africa are pretty fucked up but they're still kids, you know? Even that Eli brat is still a child even if his temper tantrums cause a lot more damage."

Only his curiosity over this 'other' kid stopped Eli from leaping down from the catwalk and stabbing the offending soldier in the back. At this angle he'd be able to sink his blade right into the soft flesh at the base of the man's skull. However he was information gathering at the moment and so forced the white-knuckle grip on his knife hilt to relax as the other solider snorted.

"I'll say. I mean, that 'Third Child' looks like stuff of nightmares, some real Children of the Corn shit you know? Never talks while floating about, sets everything on fire and is even impervious to bullets and rockets. Not to mention the gas mask and straitjacket get-up the kid's always in. From what I heard that brat nearly killed the Boss when he was at the Devil's House using that Man on Fire and, if what Wild Leopard said is true, even attacked him back when the Boss was escaping from that hospital before the whole place went up in flames. Where'd the kid even come from? Some kind of lab?"

"Hell if I know. I just hope they figure out what to do with the Third Child and fast. Creeps me out knowing there's a kid like that sneaking about and with that kind of power. At least the ones we've got on Mother Base aren't...whatever the hell the Third Child is."

"Ha ha, what if the Boss brings the brat back here? Since he seems to try and adopt every damn child he comes across considering how many we've got running around here. Imagine how Miller would react."

"Don't even joke about that-"

Eli waited a few more moments until it became clear the conversation had shifted and the two soldiers started discussing all the animals getting fulton'd back to base and so Eli carefully crept out of the area, thinking intently.

Another 'child'? One capable of going toe-to-toe with his father? From the sounds of it the other child possessed supernatural abilities. Eli would have dismissed such a thing instantly but he'd seen some strange things around Mother Base, especially with that woman Quiet who was kept locked in a cell underneath the base. He didn't really know much about her barring all the scathing comments from most of the soldiers- and Miller, who certainly seemed to hate her a lot -but she almost seemed supernatural. Turning invisible and drinking through skin seemed like that.

Eli brooded on the issue for several moments, running numerous scenarios through his head. While he was still unsure about the the whole 'supernatural' aspect from the sounds of it this Third Child was a formidable enough opponent, especially if they were able to attack Big Boss and get away with it. Judging by the hush tones the soldiers spoke of the Third Child they were powerful enough to make people within Mother Base uneasy simply by discussing them. Him? Her? Eli wasn't sure yet.

_Maybe if they join me..._ The idea had a great amount of potential. While his father had been stupid enough to allow him free reign within his coveted base of operations Eli wasn't foolish enough to think he could kill Big Boss without repercussions or getting killed himself in the aftermath. Admittedly he was prepared to kill his father or die trying at some point but Eli wasn't going to turn down the opportunity to up his chance of success.

Especially considering this 'Third Child' seemed to dislike Big Boss as much as he did and had tried to kill him on numerous occasions. Maybe if he could track this 'Third Child' down, convinced them to join him...after all, he had taken over the camp in Africa with nary an issue, beyond having to beat some more unruly underlings into respecting him. He wasn't sure if that would work on a psychic, but if they hated Big Boss as much as Eli did they could be persuaded into potentially joining him.

With an annoyed grunt Eli kicked the side of the building, his boot leaving a dirty smear on the orange metal. Speculation wouldn't help. Like with any mission he needed more information.

* * *

After some thinking- and breaking one of the chairs in the lower part of Mother Base in frustration -he eventually planned on sneaking into Miller's officer. The old soldier would have information on the strange 'Third Child', that Eli had no doubt. He did briefly think of trying to break into Ocelot's room since that man seemed to spend most of his time lurking around and spying on everyone but dismissed that just as quickly; Miller had a weird softness for children and would most likely let Eli get away with the break in compared with that Russian cowboy if he did get caught.

Eli plotted his mission carefully, even making sure to be on his best behaviour the following day to avoid casting any suspicion or increased scrutiny upon himself. It was a near thing though and he came extremely close to breaking the nose of one of the other children in the base. Only his burning curiosity over this 'Third Child' stopped him enacting any violence, no matter how well deserved it was. Whatever, Eli vowed to give that other kid a lesson in respect soon enough. Just not today.

He even forced himself to tolerate a passing remark from his father, keeping his expression blank and neutral when the man praised him for showing restrain. Eli wanted nothing more than to ram his knife in Big Boss' remaining eye and gore it out but forced himself to respond to the comment with a stiff nod even as rage caused his clenched fists to shake but he swallowed the impulse down.

The next few hours was snooping around the vicinity to Miller's office, making sure to keep his movements slow and careful as he idly watched the patrolling soldiers from where he was perched on the upper level. At this height only a few of them noticed him, but Eli had spent quite a lot of time in the previous week lurking in the upper stories or lounging on a chair that most of them ignored him. Fools.

However at the moment the Mother Base's soldiers incompetence was a help as a fight broke out between several of them on the lower levels. Eli kept a close eye on them from where he was perched up on the upper deck and after some careful spying he spotted Miller leaving his officer and slowly making his way down the stairs. Probably to go scold the soldiers who got moved to the infirmary after the fight got broken up.

Either way, it was to Eli's benefit as he waited until Miller had vanished before he carefully shimmied down the pipes before hopping down to the platform. It was almost pathetically easy to break into the office; Eli ignored the door (which would no doubt be locked) in order to pry open the window with his knife, jamming the sharp steel hard into the hinges of the window. It took a bit of twisting and muscle but he managed to bend the frame of the window enough in order to twist his fingers through the gap and undo the latch.

Sheathing his knife Eli hefted himself up and squirmed through the now-opened window. It was small enough he had to wiggle around a bit, skinning his elbow in the process before successfully falling through into Miller's now empty office.

Conscious of how soon Miller could return Eli wasted no time in scanning the files on the desk. To his annoyance most of it seemed to be ammunition and scouting reports along with a ridiculous amount of paperwork on _flowers_ that his father seemed to waste an ungodly amount of time harvesting out in the field. With a disgusted snort Eli shoved aside the papers, wasting several minutes trying to find anything on the Third Child to no avail so he shifted his attention to the filing cabinets along the left wall.

It took him a few minutes of rummaging through the densely packed files- along with a steadily increasing paranoia that Miller was going to barge back into the room at a moments notice -before he found a thick brown folder stamped with 'The Man on Fire' which caught Eli's attention and he recalled the discussion he overheard with the two soldiers; the Third Child was said to be connected to the Man on Fire so it seemed like a good start. Sitting down at Miller's desk Eli flicked open the folder; most of it was crammed with text that would take him a while to get through (time he didn't have) so he ignored most of it as he flipped over the pages until he got to the photos. Most of them were blurry and over exposed, looking as if most were taken at a great distance. Considering the Man on Fire was a...well, a man on fire it seemed like a wise decision. Eli looked over one of the more close-up photos, taking in the hulking, glowing frame of the Man of Fire with its near demonic eyes and abilities. Little wonder people avoided this thing so diligently, but they still seemed more afraid of the Third Child than this flaming man.

He spread out the files on the desk, frowning as most of them were about the Man on Fire or written in Russian. There were notes on some of the photos accompanying the files, little comments about supposed weaknesses and first-hand experiences soldiers had with the strange supernatural entity, such as the entity being imperious to bullets, grenades and rockets. Weak to water- even sprinkler systems -which was how his father escaped him at The Devil's House by all accounts but otherwise there seemed to be no way they could deter the Man on Fire beyond stalling him. Eli shifted, glancing over at the folder and back at the pictures; how did the Third Child tie into all this? Looking them over again he noticed that in many of the photos there seemed to be a small shadowy figure ghosting in the background and, when he looked back at the file in greater detail, there were vague notes that the 'floating kid' was somehow...controlling the Man on Fire? 'Parasiting' him? What did that even mean?

With a growl of frustration Eli threw the first file off the desk and onto the floor. He didn't particularly care about the Man on Fire, especially since the notes alluded to the possibility that the Third Child _controlled_ him. This other kid was even more powerful than Eli originally thought and he didn't bother to stop the vindictive smile that crossed his face. If he could sway the Third Child over to his side, he doubted even Big Boss could stop them from killing him.

Flicking through a few more pages Eli's eyebrows rose when he finally came to a clear photo of the Third Child hovering in front of the Man on Fire, the photo glued to a page next to a plethora of notes. From the way the soldiers spoke of the Third Child earlier, along with the notes detailing the Child's connection and control of the formidable Man on Fire Eli fully expected the Third Child to look as ferocious and deadly as the Man on Fire, some strange otherworldly creature on fire and covered in spikes, with glowing eyes like a demon.

Instead the person in the photo was small, an over sized black straitjacket hanging off their skinny frame and grey leggings covering their thin legs. The Third Child's face was completely obscured by a dark gas mask, with messy red hair spilling over the sides.

_A girl?_

_That_ was the Third Child? The one who controlled the Man on Fire? Who nearly killed his father on several separate occasions? Who attacked the hospital and The Devil's House? An undersized red-headed little girl?

Eli was unsure what to call her now- Girl in a gas mask? A witch? Or just keep on using 'The Third Child' despite it seemingly more like a title? The notes also called her 'floating kid' a lot but he doubted that was her actual name. As it was she looked fairly creepy, so calling her a witch would probably suited her well enough. He did later privately admit to himself she had nice coloured hair- red, the colour of blood and fire. A good colour.

At the moment however Eli pushed that aside, carefully reading the text on the page next to the Third Child's photo. There was some more speculation about the girl's, or 'floating kid' abilities, including pyrokinesis, levitation and telekinesis and even physical manifestation. Eli didn't understand most of the words, frowning as he skimmed through the next paragraph but it was something about 'latent cognitive abilities' and 'bio fields' which Eli couldn't make heads or tails of either. Probably some stupid science jargon that just complicated things so those adults could make themselves sound superior; he remembered his 'handlers' using such ridiculous language when he was still being held captive by them until he escaped.

With a huff Eli quickly scanned the rest of the page but it was more-or-less the same; just more nonsense. However a note at the bottom caught his attention, written first in Russian then in English-

_'третий ребенок - Tretij Rebenok - the Third Child.'_

_Tretij? Her name is Tretij?_ Eli tapped the page with a gloved finger, frowning slightly as he rolled this new knowledge around in his head, _That's a weird name. But she's apparently Russian so it might have something to do with that._

After all Ocelot was Russian by all accounts and that man made the hair on the back of Eli's neck stand up and he wanted to knife him whenever the old man came too close. So, the girl's name was 'Tretij Rebenok' even if Eli didn't understand why they gave her so many different names like 'Third Child' and 'floating kid' if they had her actual name on file. Probably for the same reason they kept on trying to force his 'normal' name back on him. He deserved his animal moniker, no matter what these idiots at Mother Base claimed.

The door suddenly swinging open violently jarred Eli from his thoughts and a startled voice snapped, "Hey, just what are you doing-"

Eli was up and out the window before Miller even finished his sentence, sending the files flying in all directions as he bolted from the room.

Quickly Eli ran along the catwalk and darted up the stairs before clambering up to the top of the building, heart hammering in his chest. Even though he was now three stories above Miller's Office Eli could hear the man's faint cursing. Whatever, he'd deal with it when the old man found him.

Regardless Eli made sure to give the man a wide berth for a while until he calmed down somewhat, even though Miller did catch him a few hours later and proceeded to lecture him over boundaries and ruining all his files but Eli couldn't care less. However he knew he needed to keep suspicion upon himself low, so instead he lied and made up a story about getting uneasy due to not being up to speed with current events. Eli felt like he was pushing it when he brought up his time as a commander in Africa, but made sure to put emphasis on how he was in charge and thus had been aware of everything that occurred within the camp and with his soldiers, hence him wanting to be knowledgeable about the coming and goings on Mother Base. He felt as if he was laying it on too thick but Miller seemed to be buy it after watching him carefully for a few moments, Eli standing ramrod straight and making sure to keep eye contact.

He wasn't sure if Miller actually brought it, but the man dismissed him with a sigh and parting warning about the consequences if he breached the privacy of his office again, which Eli quickly accepted before leaving. He got the information he was after and it seemed Miller was none the wiser to his real intentions.

Later on, when dusk was beginning to settle over Mother Base and Eli was sitting on one of the top levels watching the sun set as he carefully ran through the information he gathered. He wasn't foolish enough to write anything down, so he leaned back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the plastic arm.

Tretij Rebenok, the Third Child who had attempted to kill Big Boss on numerous separate occasions and was armed with a plethora of supernatural powers. A potentially powerful ally for himself.

All Eli needed to do was figure out a way to meet her.

* * *

The next week Eli devoted most of his time to reconnaissance and information gathering; Getting off base would be fairly easy once Eli figured out the weaknesses and blind spots in patrols and security around Mother Base- many of the helicopters operated on skeleton crews and a large portion of the shipping and mailing system on and off base had major flaws so sneaking into one of the shipping containers to escape would be easy enough.

However getting off Mother Base didn't mean he would be able to find the Third Child and from Miller's reports that he read when he broke into the man's office she always seemed to appear when Skull Face did, which was typically around Big Boss. So sneaking off base wouldn't help Eli find her. He did however keep a mental note of all the lapses in security around Mother Base for potential escapes- that information would no doubt come in handy somewhere down the line.

But the fact was this 'Tretij Rebenok' only ever showed up when his father was out in the field. Which meant Eli had to find a way to somehow follow Big Boss on one of his missions. Something he doubted would be in anyway easy, since that Quiet woman or the annoying dog always accompanied his father on missions. Even if the man was stupid enough not to notice him either of those two definitely would.

Eli was frustrated enough he broke several of the windows on the lower decks of Mother Base and also broke the nose of the Diamond Dog soldier who tried to stop him. After easily evading the man he wound up in the lab of that creepy Emmerich man with the weird metal legs. Eli threw that stupid DD cup of his into the man's slimy face which resulted in Eli being forced into solitary confinement for two days once the soldier he wounded caught up with him but Eli didn't care. He was moreso angry about his current predicament than the incompetence of his father's troops. After finally being let out of solitary- and getting yet another lecture from Miller -Eli spent most of his time watching the coming and goings of the soldiers up on his perch on a nearby roof, raking his mind for any possible way to reach the girl. Most of them boiled down to 'find a way to follow Big Boss on a mission and hope she shows up' but Eli couldn't figure out a way to do it. Especially considering both his father and Miller complained whenever Eli practiced with his weapons or would always refuse his demands to be let off base.

It was nearing the afternoon when an increase of activity on the ground caught Eli's attention of where he was dozing in his chair, murky daydreams of blood and revenge cut off as raised voices. Shaking off his sleepiness Eli got up and carefully hopped down the grating until he reached the ground floor, making sure to keep his movements light and quiet.

Apparently his father was investigating something of 'great importance' and Miller was going to travel en route with one of the helicopters in case the need of support arose. Or at least that's what he gathered from the flighty babble coming from the troops as they darted back and forth like panicked chickens, their conversations getting partly blown away by the wind of the helicopter as it touched down on the nearby landing pad. Eli eyed the troops flitting about from where he was hidden behind one of the nearby shipping crates, only half-interested in the panic. Last time everyone was acting so ridiculous it was only because his incompetent father decided to fulton four bears back to Mother Base in rapid succession which apparently made for a fairly intense afternoon for the Diamond Dogs at the animal conservative platforms, even more so when one of the bears escaped and mauled several people before getting tranquilized. Eli remembered laughing about it.

Eli was yanked out of his reminiscing when he heard snatches of a hurried conversation between two soldiers as they rushed past, the key words 'Sahelanthropus' and 'Skull Face' instantly catching his undivided attention. He sucked in a breath before looking over at the helicopter still waiting at the landing pad; at this point Miller had somehow appeared and was talking with an annoyed looking Ocelot. That creep Emmerich was also hovering nervously on the outskirts of the group for some reason and judging from the unpleasant glares he was getting nobody else wanted him there.

Eli scowled, thinking furiously. He _had_ to find a way to get on that helicopter. If the situation was bad enough Miller felt the need to go off base because of it then Eli had little doubt Skull Face was doing something of great importance, like he was at The Devil's House. Which is where the Third Child also showed up at with the Man on Fire in an attempt to kill his father.

He needed to get on that helicopter. This could potentially be the closest chance he got to meeting the girl, especially considering how distracted everyone was. With that in mind Eli swallowed down his nervousness and nimbly crept towards the group as they began to climb into the helicopter. Truthfully Eli was half expecting to be caught despite being as careful and quiet as possible but to his surprise he was able to duck into the helicopter and hop up on one of the spare seats without anyone giving him a second glance.

Breathing slow he kept himself as still as possible as the helicopter shuddered and started to rise off the landing pad. Miller seemed too occupied with yelling at the pilot to notice while Emmerich was busy fiddling with his strange metallic legs even as Eli sat down next to him. As the helicopter began to steadily leave Mother Base behind Eli felt a small smile cross his face as he gradually relaxed, glancing around the small space. Across from him Miller stopped scolding the pilot and shifted back on his seat, eyebrows shooting up when he realized who was sitting next to Emmerich.

"I- Eli, what are you doing here?" Miller snapped.

Eli blinked, trying to look casual and innocent, "I wanted to know what was happening; then everyone jumped onto the helicopter and I thought we had to leave," inwardly he cringed at how lost and confused he sounded but Miller had a habit of eating that act up.

Miller's stare hardened behind his glasses and Eli forced himself to look evenly back at the man, blinking owlishly. After a few moments Miller sighed and muttered, "Damnit, we don't have time to turn back- alright, but sit there and behave; that means no running off or doing something foolish to try and prove yourself. Understood?"

Swallowing down a triumphant smile Eli kept his features calm as he answered Miller with a brisk nod. Miller cast him another annoyed glance before turning his attention back to the pilot, a comms device in hand. Satisfied that the soft-hearted fool brought his story, Eli looked around at the rest of the thread-bare crew; most were random Diamond Dogs he couldn't remember the names of but that Emmerich man was shifting restlessly in his seat next to Eli. They made eye contact and Eli glared at the man until he looked away.

The rest of the trip was largely done in silence, with Miller occasionally grumbling under his breath or listening to his comms device where near inaudible words would occasionally emanate from. Eli guessed Miller was in radio contact with his father who was currently occupied with Skull Face. However everyone was too still and tense for Eli to eavesdrop more obviously so he casually leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees as he thought over how he was going to approach the Third Child, still fairly unsure just how to go about doing it. She might only speak Russian would could be an issue or she might decline his offer. However hopefully she hated Big Boss and the Diamond Dogs as much as he did and would readily agree to join with him in order to find a way to kill them all. Either way Eli was fully prepared to find a way off the helicopter to track her down while everyone was preoccupied with Skull Face.

He was broken from his musings when the pilot loudly announced, "This is Queequeg, on station to provide cover."

"Get us a line of fire," Miller quickly ordered and the helicopter shifted, swooping off to the side as the pilot carefully plotted a new course.

Eli shifted slightly in his seat, straining to hear the words streaming from the comms device Miller was holding in his hand- luckily their small quarters and increased proximity to Big Boss meant the words coming from Miller's comms device was clearer and from his seat right across Eli could hear a few snatches of the conversation playing on the other end, even if he didn't recognize the voice.

_"-He lives, because of you. Show him."_

Weird snarling, grinding noises followed that, before the unmistakable crackle and hiss of fire overtook all other sounds. Even though the noise was faintly distorted by the device Eli knew enough from his experience of the fires in Africa to instantly recognize that noise. Miller's faint cursing joined in and Eli felt vindictive glee build up in his gut and he knew without a doubt the Man on Fire had arrived down where his father was currently located. Suddenly Eli wanted to hear nothing more than Big Boss being burned alive over that speaker, even if he didn't get to see it himself. Dying in flames and screaming in agony would be a fitting death for that man and Eli glanced down at his hands so they couldn't see the small smile cross his face.

The pilot suddenly spoke up, tone nervous, "We've got a spike on the RWR... Strange PRF."

"What's wrong?" Miller asked.

"Control lost...Can't maintain RPM. We're settling!"

Then everything just _stopped._

Eli blinked, dimly aware the pilot was speaking again but he took no notice as his attention shifted inwards as _something_ pressed up against his mind. He automatically tensed as a strange sense of disorientation and confusion took over his mind. Something tugged at him persistently and from the corner of his eye he could see himself, watching him intently. Eli inhaled carefully, unsure what was going on before the strange copy of himself warped into someone else and slow, rasping breath filled his hearing. The appearance of bloodred hair and the gas mask instantly gave away the identity of the person standing only a few inches away from him.

_Tretij Rebenok,_ Eli thought, still feeling strangely frozen in place. The other mind shifting against his paused before approval flooded into Eli's thoughts and he knew without a doubt it was the Third Child and she'd decided to contact him first.

Though he hadn't actually prepared for her approaching him first he couldn't steam the tide of his excited thoughts her abrupt appearance brought on, his mind instantly flickering through numerous scenarios of killing the Diamond Dogs, of destroying Mother Base and killing his father in the most agonizing and humiliating way possible in order to escape his predetermined curse of fate. Underlying all of his feverish visions of death and vengeance was the overwhelming hatred and rage he felt towards Big Boss and those who were still controlling him.

Eli felt a _click_ deep inside himself and something shifted in the girl's mind, along with an answering echo of the fury Eli felt. In that moment he was unsure which part of it was his and which part of it was hers but nonetheless felt satisfaction; she understood and accepted.

All this passed in a matter of seconds and the girl's rasping breath was loud and overwhelming in his ears, even as everything else felt murky and distant as if he was experiencing it underwater. His awareness of the interior of the helicopter faded even more as she tugged his mind again and abruptly they were both gone. Instead he got the impression of metal and rage and then suddenly he could see his father, along with Skull Face and a bunch of Cipher soldiers.

It took Eli a few moments to realize he was seeing everything from _Sahelanthropus'_ point of view. He'd overheard rumours and hushed discussions over this giant 'walking nuclear tank' of Skull Face's but he had no idea Tretij had a connection to the machine. No, not a connection. She could _control_ it. Another flicker of approval went through their mental link even as Eli got momentarily distracted by a giant eruption of fire down near Sahelanthropus' feet as the platform moved forward at Tretij's silent encouragement.

Was she going to kill Big Boss? Through Sahelanthropus Eli could see the man, so small and insignificant in comparison with the massive war machine and it would be pathetically easy to kill the so-called living legend. Before he could say as much- or think it- Eli was caught off guard by her mute offer to let _him_ control Sahelanthropus.

Without hesitation Eli accepted, feeling a brief whirlwind of disorientation and suddenly he _was_ Sahelanthropus, raising a giant metal foot and smashing it down upon the two nearest Cipher soldiers, turning them into a meaty paste on the floor. Without pause he guided the giant machine off the platform and then halted, catching sight of his father staring up into Sahelanthropus' 'face' with a blank expression upon his own.

Eli shifted the giant machine forward, intent on killing Big Boss as easily as he did to those soldiers. To his frustration his father was annoying and hard to catch, ducking behind a upturned jeep and sprinting out of the cove where Sahelanthropus was housed. Enraged, Eli chased after him, the gigantic machine stomping heavily after the man before crashing headlong into the rocky overhang. Eli snarled in frustration, Sahelanthropus mimicking his movements and sounds as he tried to repeatedly force it through the gap without success. Before Sahelanthropus Big Boss stopped and turned back around, watching the machine carefully as it stared right back at him.

Then Tretij intervened, quickly pressing a series of experiences and images into Eli's mind and he instantly understood; with a screech of rotating metal and twisting gears Sahelanthropus shifted and transformed into its humanoid configuration, easily breaking free of the overhang. The next few moments were fast paced and erratic with Eli encouraging Sahelanthropus forward as quickly as the machine could walk. The bullets and rockets from the Cipher troops were more of an annoyance than anything; working on the information Tretij shared with him Eli activated the Gatling guns mounted on Sahelanthropus' head unit, killing several of the troops and destroying some of the jeeps and tanks.

To his irritation even more Cipher units swept in, causing Eli to loose sight of his father even with the towering bulk of Sahelanthropus scanning the area. Those troops needed to be killed and quickly so Eli could focus on his real quarry. Approval flared over his meld with Tretij and the girl readily supplied him with more information on Sahelanthropus' weaponry, including the lethal nano-fibre whip coiled around the gigantic machine's midriff.

Eli didn't know what nano-fibre was but he knew enough from the images Tretij shared with him that they would easily deal with the tanks blocking their way. Quickly he unfurled the massive whip on the machine before slamming the weapon hard on the ground, severing a jeep completely in half while causing the tanks behind it to explode as giant metallic spikes erupted from the ground in a shock-wave of heat and destruction.

Even before Eli righted up Sahelanthropus several rockets from a nearby helicopter struck the huge machine and with a snarl Eli thrust the nano-fibre whip up sharply and impaled the helicopter with the lethal metal before hurling the now-flaming helicopter at the nearby power line.

The resulting explosion caused the power line to topple over and as it did Eli caught sight of a familiar figure swiftly running out of the blast radius. Without hesitation he urged Sahelanthropus forward, making the machine leap right over the power line as he pursued Big Boss. Quickly he turned the machine and kicked one of the nearby broken tanks at his father, who promptly leapt over the railings to safety.

Eli tried to follow his movements, but the explosions and fire everywhere caused him to miss where Big Boss darted to cover for. Pivoting Sahelanthropus around didn't reveal the man's hiding place and Eli snarled in frustration, kicking a tank off to the side as Sahelanthropus' verbally echoed his anger. Then-

_There!_ A flash of thought and Eli immediately turned Sahelanthropus around and fired off the machine's Gatling guns, narrowly missing his father before smashing the robot's foot onto the tank and flipping it over so it landed with a crash. He growled as his father evaded that as well, the man getting hidden by the numerous billows of smoke and fire littering the area. Kicking aside a flaming jeep Eli scanned the area, trying to track his father down without success for a few moments.

Tretij suddenly surged forth through their metal link, urging him to turn the machine around which Eli automatically did, curious as to what had caught her attention so intently that he momentarily forgot about their search. There beyond the broken power line and trapped by the fires was a small, black clad figure.

_Skull Face,_ the hissed thought trailed through their melded minds followed by a heavy spike of rage which Eli was certain wasn't his own. Images of the man with the disfigured features flashed rapidly through Eli's mind, of pain and confusion and revenge then overriding it all sheer anger over being enslaved to the man. A rage Eli immediately understood and endorsed so without hesitation he moved Sahelanthropus forward and raised the machine's leg before sending it crashing onto the broken power line, smashing down hard into where Skull Face was standing. Crushing him underneath the twisted metal. A spike of pain burst from the man's mind then nothing.

Heady satisfaction and approval flooded through the meld from Tretij which disorientated Eli for a brief moment, watching the smoke and dust billow out in a lazy cloud around Sahelanthropus' legs. The sudden shift of Tretij's mind, clearly pleased with the death of someone who, from what Eli caught in the flash of images, had temporarily enslaved her will jarred him from his own vengeance before she shook off the feeling and sent a quick pulse of thought through their meld and directing his attention back towards the jeeps. To his father.

Quickly Eli pivoted Sahelanthropus around and stomped after Big Boss as the man took off in the jeep, attempting to crush the vehicle under the machine's feet. To their joint frustration he was unable to chase down the jeep so instead Eli slowed Sahelanthropus and once again unfurled the nano-fibre whip around the machine's waist and smashed it onto the ground; though the jeep had already rounded the cliff and was out of sight Eli estimated the jeep's path and sent the massive spikes down the road and around the corner.

Sheathing the whip Eli sent Sahelanthropus forward, following the shattered road and earth until he spied the battered, flaming remains of the jeep further down near a cliff. From his vantage point crouched on the hillside Eli carefully scanned the thick cloud of smoke and dust until he spotted a small figure struggling to stand up admist the upturned earth and asphalt.

Sahelanthropus straightened up as Eli turned the machine around, pursuing his father as the man quickly darted over the cracks in the road.

It turned into a frustrating game of cat and mouse, Big Boss obviously realizing he'd never win in a straight-out match with Sahelanthropus and was doing his best to evade the hulking machine on his horse and Eli doing his best to kill the man via Sahelanthropus' variety of weapons. The landscape became cracked and hot from the repeated use of the nano-fibre whip churning up the ground while missiles and bullets send up thick clouds of dust and gored out giant craters of rock.

There was something completely surreal about controlling the gigantic frame of Sahelanthropus, feeling as if he _was_ the bipedal war machine as it rampaged across the countryside, scarring the ground and shattering the earth as he hunted down his father, catching glimpses of the white horse and man as they evaded Sahelanthropus' glare.

Tretij also pressed constantly against his mind, a reassuring presence as she carefully watched Eli guide the huge machine in its pursuit and would occasionally share new information through their linked mind space; such as when Big Boss hijacked a nearby tank of Cipher's and managed to strike Sahelanthropus' radar dome with a rocket Tretij immediately offered up information on the Archaea grenades, with the resulting red mist eating away at the tank and rendering it useless in a matter of seconds.

However as the fight dragged on Eli was beginning to get more and more frustrated; his father just would not _die_ despite Sahelanthropus managing to strike him a few times with its weaponry, even injuring that white horse of his. The fight was going to end soon- Tretij was giving him streams of information, usually advice or mute encouragement but was also giving him feedback on Sahelanthropus; the machine was steadily getting damaged by all the rockets and grenades Eli's father was managing to launch at the machine as he darted about, mangling the mechanics of Sahelanthropus' waist and back and causing noxious trails of black smoke to start spewing out of the broken metal.

Sahelanthropus was going to be destroyed- or at least rendered unusable -if the fight carried on as it was.

_So much for the ultimate weapon,_ Eli thought bitterly as he urged Sahelanthropus forward, activating the huge machine's railgun. Tretij immediately spotted Big Boss, tracking him past one of the mountain ridges as Eli fired the weapon, the gigantic glowing projectile blowing up half of the hillside as it struck. With a growl of frustration Eli launched Sahelanthropus forward, the huge machine easily leaping across one of the roads until it landed down onto the ground with a colossal crash, transforming into its hunched-over mode to fire the railgun at point-blank range at his father who was darting back and forth in front of the huge machine like a panicked chicken. He wouldn't miss at this range.

However before he could fire off Sahelanthropus' railgun again a sharp jolt of pain shot through the link between himself and Tretij and a wild sense of disorientation and anger flared through the meld along with a scattering of images.

_Did she just get shot?_ before Eli could think further on it Sahelanthropus was struck hard in the vulnerable plating at its waist as the machine shuddered and seized in place, with Eli unsuccessfully trying to force it to fire its railgun as another rocket struck the plating in a burst of fire and smoke.

After a few more stilted stutters and spasms Sahelanthropus finally transformed back into its bipedal mode and righted itself but before Eli could focus back on his father another missile hit the giant machine and then everything exploded outwards and-

Eli jerked violently as his connection with Sahelanthropus was abruptly severed, suddenly finding himself sitting back on the helicopter. He sucked in a shaky breath, an almost overwhelming rawness leaving him disorientated as he slumped forward in his seat.

Next to him hovered Tretij, the muzzle of her gas mask only a few inches from Eli's nose. This close he could see her eyes narrow slightly behind the orange lenses and Eli shifted, glancing at the girl then over her shoulder so he was looking out of the helicopter's cockpit as a pillar of smoke and fire billowed up in the distance. Sahelanthropus was beaten.

Eli grimaced, anger flowing hot and heavy through his body. His chance at killing his father had passed and Eli's gloved hands clenched into fists even as the helicopter swooped closer to the location where Sahelanthropus had collapsed. Probably to go pick up his father, since the man hadn't died like he was supposed to. Eli ground his teeth together, ignoring Miller's question as he fought the urge to curse loudly over his failure.

He heard a snort through the link and he glanced at Tretij who still hadn't moved from where she was hovering a few inches from him. Eli shot a glance around the helicopter, confused as to how no one else seemed to notice her presence and smugness radiated through their link. Even though Sahelanthropus was destroyed she was still mentally connected to him and Eli got the odd impression of being hidden, of turning aside others minds so they wouldn't notice.

Eli straightened up as the helicopter began to descend, Sahelanthropus' now still frame coming into view. While Eli had not intended to use the machine- and wasn't even aware he could -he still reached his original object; contact the Third Child. Now that Skull Face was dead hopefully she'd be amendable to becoming allies with Eli. Considering she was still there just _watching_ him while all the adults remained oblivious to her presence, rather than vanishing once Sahelanthropus was defeated.

With that in mind he reached out through their link, silently asking for her to come back to Mother Base with him.

A series of impressions swept over his mind; bemusement, confusion and then assurance and acceptance. With that approval Eli relaxed slightly as the helicopter settled to a halt in front of Sahelanthropus. He was even able to swallow the rage that built up in his gut as his father climbed into the waiting helicopter with Miller's help. Tretij stayed close to him, to the point Eli could feel the black of her jacket and the crimson of her hair out of the corner of his eye from where she was lurking half-hidden behind him.

Like the rest of the adults Big Boss was completely oblivious to her presence, instead focusing on Miller and saying, "Let's see Skull Face."

The request confused Eli for a moment as he assumed him and Tretij had killed the Cipher leader with Sahelanthropus but apparently the man still clung to life, an assumption that was proven correct when the helicopter flew back to where Sahelanthropus had begun its rampage. Though Eli stayed within the helicopter he could see the small broken form trapped underneath the twisted metal of the power line. Miller and his father left the helicopter, with Emmerich following at a distance. A flurry of through surged through Eli's mind and Tretij seemed to focus intently on something else for a brief moment. Despite that Eli could still feel her, like a strange pressure against his own mind and he knew she was still close to him even if he couldn't see her anymore if he turned his head.

Minutes passed as the adults milled around a dying Skull Face, even as gunshots rang out a few times before Big Boss and Miller made their way back to the helicopter. They stopped half way as another gunshot rang out as Emmerich apparently put the final bullet in Skull Face and Eli hid a snort; old fools couldn't even get their revenge right. A flare of amusement and agreement came from Tretij, wherever she was lurking.

The trip back to Mother Base was spent mostly in silence, Eli brooding on how he was going to kill his father now that even Sahelanthropus hadn't worked. Tretij remained at the edge of his consciousness and he'd occasionally get different flickers of emotions from her, usually curiosity or approval as he ran through numerous vicious plans of how he'd kill Big Boss. Miller spoke to him a few times, usually to ask him if he was 'alright' as Eli had apparently spaced out for a large portion of the trip due to being preoccupied piloting Sahelanthropus but they didn't need to know that so Eli just lied and told the old man he'd simply felt disorientated for a while. Tretij seemed to find the whole mediocre exchange immensely fascinating, her presence pressing up against him when Eli addressed Miller and not for the first time he wondered if she could speak.

He tried asking her but she didn't respond beyond a few odd images of a man, a white room and fire. Eli didn't understand it and he got distracted from asking her further when the helicopter reached Mother Base, the landing rocking him back in his seat. He waited as the adults got off first, shooting his father a vicious glare as the man hopped out before he aided Miller. Without comment he followed soon after, still feeling fairly bitter about his failure to kill Big Boss even if he did gain a new alliance as a conciliation.

Eli followed the group at a safe distance, watching them carefully as they made their way to the edge of the base. He ignored most of the adults ramblings, well used to tuning their boring rhetoric out by now even as more and more Diamond Dogs steadily emerged from Mother Base and converging in the general location of his father. Ocelot was already there to greet Big Boss, along with that old man in the wheelchair who looked more dead than alive.

The familiar whirl of helicopters grew louder and louder and was accompanied by Emmerich's excited shouting from the lower levels, "Oh! Here she comes! Here she comes!"

Confused Eli looked over at the group who were staring at something off to the side while several helicopters flew slowly up ahead and Eli's eyebrows shot up as he realized they were all towing an inert Sahelanthropus through the air.

Those idiots had brought Sahelanthropus back to Mother Base.

Making his way slowly to the lip of the platform, elbowing several Diamond Dogs out of the way as he did so, Eli watched as the helicopters set Sahelanthropus down on the platform below, the huge machine denting the flooring as it settled in place. He was vaguely aware his father had started talking, with Miller joining in at random intervals but Eli couldn't care less about what they were saying, instead focusing on the giant machine as it swayed slightly before going ridged as the soldiers darting about its feet locked the huge thing in place.

Sahelanthropus was dented and scratched, remnants of its prolonged fight with Big Boss. Eli knew enough when his connection with it was severed the machine wasn't in operating condition. A pity, or he could activate it right now with Tretij's help and kill all the adults gawking at it on the platform. However they were still foolish enough to bring it here and considering the excited gushing Emmerich was still doing there was a potential for the weapon to be repaired and used again.

At least he thought so until his idiot father opened his mouth and declared Sahelanthropus was now a 'trophy'. Apparently something to do about being a symbol of victory and some other useless phrases and Eli crossed his arms, irritated by Big Boss's narrow mindedness and stupidity. He didn't bother moving, even when his father finished his speech and soon left with Miller and Ocelot, even when most of the Diamond Dog troops also left, eventually leaving him alone on the platform.

Eli watched the hulking form of Sahelanthropus for a long while, squinting slightly as the sun began to slowly set behind the gigantic machine. The Diamond Dog troops wandering over the robot's feet looked almost like ants. He could still easily recalling crushing Skull Face's troops underneath the machine's feet, turning them into bloody pulps. Then his attention shifted, noticing a small dark shape hovering above Sahelanthropus along with an increasingly familiar tug at his mind.

A second later Tretij was hovering a few feet in front of him, her breath raspy and slow behind her mask. Eli blinked as the girl cocked her head to the side before slowly raising her right arm towards him and for a brief, mad moment Eli thought she wanted him to grab her hand. Instead his attention shifted and he noticed the long green vial hovering a few inches above the black sleeve of her straitjacket.

_The English vocal cord parasites?_ Eli sucked in a surprised breath; when did she steal this? He saw enough from his spot on the helicopter when his father threw the vials off to the side, where they presumably were destroyed in the fires scattered across the area before he and Miller shot Skull Face but Eli never even noticed she'd left his side to retrieve the vial. She was even more sneaky and resourceful than he originally thought.

And now she was allies with _him._

A smirk crossed his features as he reached out and took the proffered floating vial, feeling an answering vibe of smugness emanate from her. Whether over his thoughts or the potential damage they could cause with the virus on Mother Base he was unsure but he felt a sense of kinship over her agreement with his intentions.

This close he could see the glint of her eyes behind the orange lenses of her gas mask, as well as the slow blink she gave him. Something shifted in her mind and she dropped her arm, the too long sleeve flapping in the breeze like a broken birds wing. Then she floated backwards slightly, head turning to the side before she pivoted in place and drifted upwards.

"Wait!" he blurted out the words because he could stop himself.

"You're not," he faltered as she shifted back to face him, a questioning thought entering his mind. Eli swallowed down his nervousness, hand tightening on the vial before he asked, "You're not leaving, are you?"

Truthfully Eli wasn't sure what he was going to do if she said she was- or thought so. He was still rather confused about her whole 'speaking with her mind' thing and for a brief moment he wondered if she was mute like that woman on the base, Quiet. Regardless, he now knew first hand how powerful the Third Child was and considering she'd approached him _first_ he assumed she approved of his plans for Mother Base and his hatred of the adults within it. After all, she agreed to travel back to Mother Base with him when initially he asked.

"You don't have to leave," Eli said quickly, trying to keep his voice level. His time in Africa taught him appearing panicky and nervous just invited others to question his leadership, keeping calm and in control made others less likely to challenge him. However Tretij was a psychic who could set things on fire by pointing at them and was able to control gigantic war machines using just her mind. Also she was a girl- there hadn't been any girls at the African base so he wasn't too sure if the same tactics he'd used on the boys would work with her.

He straightened up as she drifted closer to him, her breathing raspy and calm. He felt the questioning thought through their link and said, "You can stay- it would be easy. All the adults here are stupid, even Big Boss. They didn't even notice you on the helicopter, so you don't have to-"

Eli was cut off by an oversize sleeve suddenly pressing against his face and he instinctively swatted her arm aside before looking at her incredulously. She just gave a nearly inaudible snort, drifting back a few feet. Eli was still able to see her eyes through the mask though they were currently narrowed into a glare. He clutched the vial closer to his chest, feeling nervous and immensely aware of the fact she could kill him easily enough.

She obviously caught that thought by the way she jerked back and a strong sense of annoyance mixed with amusement crossed through their mental link, as if she appreciated his acknowledgement of her abilities but was irritated at the thought she'd leave or attack him.

"So you'll stay? We can work together; we already nearly killed my father with Sahelanthropus and now that fool brought it here and we have the parasites. It will be pathetically easy to kill Mother Base from the inside out," Eli said, voice raising slightly in excitement, "We could do it, you and I. Together."

Tretij shifted and Eli twitched as foreign images and feelings were pressed across their psychic link- Traveling on a plane then suddenly everything was on fire and crashing then out in the rain while disorientated and confused, being tied to the Man on Fire, Skull Face and even Big Boss. Following the fire, of summoning giant phantoms, of setting things ablaze. Overlaying them all were an almost overwhelming feelings of rage and vengeance but twisted around and smothering her own mind until everything became a hazy blur. It felt unnervingly like the times Eli's handlers would drug him whenever he got too 'rowdy' before he escaped them.

Eli grimaced, his free hand rubbing at his temple as he tried to process the sudden onslaught of information she'd given him. It felt oddly like she had been turned into a puppet somehow, to Skull Face and the Man on Fire. Eli wasn't sure how but he guessed she was asking if he was going to attempt the same on her which affronted him.

"You aren't my slave," he snapped, "We're...allies. Partners."

She seemed to think it over, swaying slightly in midair before giving a short nod and a flurry of emotions ran through their mind meld, heavy with approval and potential violence. She shifted until she had her back to him and she silently watched Sahelanthropus for a few moments before another curious thought came through the link, seemingly asking if he's known anyone like herself before and Eli caught a few images of the Man on Fire, that Quiet woman and even some of odd twisted people with glowing green eyes he didn't recognize.

"No," Eli said, suddenly feeling immensely awkward, "I haven't met a girl like you before."

She paused near the edge of the deck before facing him again, still hovering a few feet off the ground. Eli couldn't see any change in her posture but a feeling of deep amusement crossed their mental link, causing him to frown. Was that not a compliment?

"What?"

She didn't reply but he could see her shoulders starting to shake slightly before faint, muffled laughter bubbled through their mental link. Eli's grip tightened on the green vial as his face flushed slightly, suddenly feeling weirdly self conscious.

_"What?"_ he repeated more forcefully than before. Again she didn't respond, instead drifting back a few more feet until she was hovering over the edge of the deck. Her oversize sleeves of her straitjacket flapped weakly in the cooling breeze and in the light of the setting sun her bloodred hair looked as if it was on fire.

Eli scowled before muttering, "Girls are weird," loud enough that Tretij could hear him easily from where she was still watching him.

Now there was no mistaking the laugh echoing through his mind and without another word she left in a flicker of smoke, her laughter fading as she vanished from view.

_What was so funny?_ Eli thought irritably. He cast a suspicious look in the direction she'd disappeared to but couldn't catch sight of her. Even so he still had a weird sense of awareness, like a whisper-thin thread of emotions connecting them both so he guessed she had gone to snoop through Mother Base. The lingering amusement from her end of the link caused him to scowl before he turned away, tucking the vial of parasites into the inner pocket of his coat.

Girls were _so_ weird.

* * *


	2. Chapter 2

Eli, after parting ways with Tretij, went back to his quarters down in Mother Base. Luckily enough he had his own room mainly due to him constantly getting into fights with the other children when he was in the shared quarters. Eli didn't understand why the adults got all huffy about it, when all he was doing was teaching them basic respect which was something they complained to him about all the time anyway.

Regardless, it was private which Eli appreciated especially since he spent an hour getting a place to hide the vial of parasites Tretij had gifted him. Eli was tempted to keep it in his coat pocket but all it would take was a punch or a fall to break it open and Eli didn't really know how the parasites worked beyond infecting languages. While he did intend on unleashing it on Mother Base now wasn't the appropriate time, especially since Sahelanthropus was within reach which was another potential plan despite it being damaged and currently inoperable. He knew enough from Tretij's memories when they were rampaging across the countryside that it was only because of her the giant machine even moved in the first place.

It took a bit of grunt work to pry out the plating at the bottom corner of his room, hidden underneath his bed. It was cramped and it took quite a bit of wriggling to even get under the bed and he banged his head on the steel frame a few times, causing him to curse. Eventually he managed to peel out the metal plating on the end corner enough to wedge the vial of parasites inside before putting the plating back into its original spot.

It was only a temporary hiding spot but it was the best he could do on such short notice. He'd probably find another place to put it, preferably someplace high since hardly anyone went there, but at the moment he was feeling too paranoid and wanted to keep the parasites close at hand. Anyway even if the adults did search his room- which they did from time to time -Eli was fairly sure Tretij could steal it before the adults located the vial, like she did before. Considering Miller and Big Boss didn't even notice her appear right under their noses Eli severely doubted some random Diamond Dog soldier would spot her.

Due to the sporadic and constantly shifting nature of Mother Base's roster there was always something to eat in the cafeteria, staff being stationed there 24/7 to feed hungry soldiers. Eli was fairly unconcerned it was nearing midnight and by this time many of the Diamond Dogs were used to him lurking about at all hours so none stopped him as he made his way to the lower levels to the cafeteria. Some just gave him curt nods while others watched him warily with a few even giving him smiles and brief greetings, which he ignored.

When he was about to head down the stairs to the cafeteria his mind suddenly became assailed by numerous foreign images, causing him to jerk to a halt before slumping against the nearby wall, disorientated. It took a few moments for him to realize it was Tretij abruptly shoving these images into his head, pictures of random Diamond Dogs, the barnacle-encrusted support struts on the base of one of the platforms, a soldier fixing a broken shower unit and a large amount of attention fixed on Big Boss' wolf-dog. Unlike before when she'd communicated with him in the helicopter it was if she was just trying to cram a bunch of random images in his head, causing a painful throb to start radiating through his skull as his vision blurred.

As abruptly as the intense mental surge happened it just as quickly ceased and Eli drew in a shaky breath, off-kilter. Tretij didn't appear, but a feeling of sheepishness and remorse emanated through the link. Eli squeezed his eyes shut, the pain morphing into a dull ache before he pushed himself off the wall. It was still rather strange thinking his words instead of saying them but he tried to make it clear that she didn't have to jam all the information she was gathering into his head like that unless it was something extremely important that he needed to be immediately alerted about.

The end of her link shifted with a flurry of emotions followed by a sense of agreement and an image of the choppy ocean before she retreated from his mind. Satisfied, Eli started to make his way down the stairs; At least Tretij seemed to understand instructions a lot better than many of the boys that had been under his command in Africa. He wasn't sure if it was because she was a girl, a psychic or a mixture of both. Either way, she at least understood the problem even if he could still feel the odd thread of emotions connecting them. At least she wasn't trying to cram everything she saw into his head, even if Eli guessed she was just trying to keep him updated on her spying. From the brief scattering of images she'd shared earlier he guessed she didn't get out often; at least not while she was coherent. He was still fairly unsure about the whole mechanics behind her 'enslavement' to Skull Face. He made note to ask her later once she was finished snooping. He needed to be aware of any and all possible weaknesses of his soldiers, especially ones with Tretij's potential so he could sort it out quickly in order to prepare for his plan with the parasites she gifted him.

Scheming thoughts were shoved aside when Eli entered the doorway to the cafeteria and was assailed with the smell, his stomach suddenly very much aware of not having any food for over twelve hours. At least the kitchen staff always had someone working so the food was always hot. At the moment it was some kind of thick vegetable stew, filled with carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, onions and shredded bamboo which the lady serving it up promised would 'put meat on his bones' as she dished some up for him. Eli was too distracted by his internal plotting about the parasites and thinking about Tretij to give the woman a scathing response to her condescending kindly tone so instead he just grunted when she handed him a bowl of the hot stew before sitting down at one of the deserted tables.

At least the food was better on Mother Base; that Eli grudgingly admitted. The meals his handlers would feed him tasted like nothing, just full of protein and other raw substances he needed. He would occasionally get better food if he behaved well but Eli hated them and the prison they had him in enough he refused to let them bribe him into compliance. Then after he escaped he had to eat wild animals. That had been interesting and challenging enough that Eli actually enjoyed hunting them down, even if some animals tasted better than others. Eating that tarantula had been an experience Eli didn't want to repeat; it was too hairy and had way too many legs. He stuck to other animals like hedgehogs, lizards, birds and snakes after that.

Eli did wish the stew had meat in it though. He liked the copper taste of blood and the tear of sinew and muscle of meat and vegetables just don't cut it. Still, food was food and he had enough experience with starving for days that it wasn't something he wanted to repeat in a hurry. As he started to eat his stew he tried to sort out the random assortment of images Tretij had shoved into his mind earlier. His head still ached from that exchange but it was another learning curve he guessed he'd have to endure as they figured out how to work with each other. Eli had fairly high expectations about it, considering how in sync they'd been about Sahelanthropus. At the moment however he guessed the Third Child was familiarizing herself with Mother Base; Eli understood, having spent a large portion of his first week snooping around and memorizing locations and routes of the soldiers.

As he slowly chewed on some carrots his thoughts shifted to the parasites; having the English strain was a definite advantage however he was unsure of when he was going to infest Mother Base with it. Preferably at a time that it would be capable of infecting the head of the Diamond Dogs, notably Big Boss, Miller and that creepy Ocelot man and thus destroy the current infrastructure and bring the organization down from the inside out. There was also Sahelanthropus since those idiots had brought the huge bipedal weapon back with them. It just needed to be brought up to a usable state, which that Emmerich man could do if Eli found a way to force him into fixing the machine.

Stabbing an onion with his fork Eli ran numerous scenarios through his mind; he knew that Emmerich had worked for Skull Face before switching sides and the average Diamond Dog troop seemed to have typically negative opinions on the man. Eli only met him a few times and the man was slimy and spineless in his opinion but he could also fix Sahelanthropus. So if Eli managed to get him to fix it he could potentially unleash the English strain on Mother Base while stealing Sahelanthropus. Big Boss would be too invested in controlling the virus to follow up on Sahelanthropus, thus giving Eli enough time to find a new location, familiarize himself with it and devise a plan to kill Big Boss when he finally pursued him. Them.

Eli frowned, glancing around the cafeteria; it was mostly empty apart from a few scattered groups of Diamond Dog soldiers at the other side of the room and the noises coming from the kitchen staff. If his plan was going to work he'd need the help- or at least cooperation -of the other children on Mother Base. He was confidant he could make the ones who were under his leadership in Africa to go along with his plan, but the other groups his father had 'rescued' would need a little push, just enough to cast doubt and distrust towards the adults on Mother Base.

Of course that part would have to wait until he was sure he could find a way to force Emmerich into fixing Sahelanthropus. No point in starting the plan if he couldn't even get that first stage started but before he could think of it further he felt a familiar presence strengthen within his mind before another series of images flickering through their link. The headache from before had largely dissipated but he couldn't help but instinctively tense slightly. However Tretij clearly remembered what happened earlier and instead the pictures shifted into Eli's mind carefully, like she was taking pains to avoid causing him any kind of discomfort. It was some more spying on the soldiers- how they never seemed to notice her Eli was still bemused by -an upturned jeep and even more fixation on Big Boss' dog, who was sleeping on a pile of old blankets in a spare room.

Eli had no idea why she was so fascinated by the dog, maybe they didn't have those kind of animals in Russian? Though that couldn't have been right since he was fairly certain wolves existed there. Maybe she just liked dogs- that Quiet woman seemed to like D-Dog quite a lot and considering how neutral or even outright hostile she was to many of the Diamond Dog troops but she took a shine to D-Dog right away. Maybe it was a girl thing, liking animals more than people. He made note to ask her later.

Actually he had a lot he needed to ask Tretij once she finished snooping around Mother Base. However he'd guessed using the same tactics he'd used in Africa wouldn't work on her especially since he'd emphasized earlier she was his partner, not a subordinate. He'd been the commander of all the boys in Africa and while she seemed content to follow his lead and advised him while they piloted Sahelanthropus he doubted she'd appreciate him going back on his word. She was a psychic of immense power and he could only imagine what she'd do to him if he slighted her. While Tretij seemed to be offended earlier by his insinuation she'd hurt him, Eli wasn't blind to the amount of damage she could inflict. She could probably snap his mind in half if he annoyed her enough; considering he still felt a faint dull ache at the back of skull from her cramming all those images into his head earlier by accident proved she could do a severe amount of harm if it was her intention.

Skewering a potato within the stew with his fork he grumpily stuffed it into his mouth and started chewing slowly. That settled things. Before he took anymore steps with his other plans he needed to understand his new ally better. He wouldn't be able to set everything in motion if he had no idea how Tretij would react to everything. Well, beyond her blanket approval of killing the entirety of Mother Base; she'd endorsed that readily enough when she gifted him the parasites.

He finished off his stew in silence, feeling strangely discomforted by the idea of investigating more about the Third Child despite her continual cooperation and helpfulness. Regardless, he'd wait until after he'd slept considering it was after midnight and the excitement of the day was leaving him drained and lethargic. At this rate he'd most likely mess things up if he tried interrogating her and she seemed more than content to spy on the entirety of Mother Base at the moment.

Rising from the table Eli left the cafeteria, not bothering to take his empty bowl up to the counter. He resisted the urge to shiver when he exited the room, the night breeze icy and biting at his exposed skin as he made his way back to his private quarters. Despite the cold the night sky was devoid of cloud, leaving the massive swathe of stars unobstructed and the waning moon provided enough light he was easily able to navigate back to his room unhindered beyond a few patrolling Diamond Dogs which he habitually ignored.

When he finally got to his room he roughly kicked off his boots and shrugged off his coat before flopping down onto his bed with a huff, not bothering to even crawl under the covers. The conch he placed on the bedside table and he kept his knife gripped in one hand before curling up. He fell asleep within seconds, too tired to worry about the brief flash of red hair on the other side of the room.

* * *

Eli's slumber was deep and dreamless and he slept for nearly ten hours, waking up feeling disorientated and sluggish. He couldn't remember the last time he slept so deeply; probably back when he was still with his handlers who'd sometimes use knock out drugs on him whenever he was overly disobedient. Grumbling under his breath he rolled onto his back, rubbing at his eyes with the heel of his palm as he tried to banish the lingering embrace of sleep. Sleeping for so long wasn't a habit he wanted to get into but he had to admit yesterday had been particularly exhausting, both physically and mentally.

As it was he was tempted to lie there and doze for a while but he noticed Tretij sitting on the end of his bed, her thin legs drawn up against her chest, chin resting on her knees. Her breath was slow and steady and Eli could _feel_ when her attention shifted from staring blankly at the wall to fixate solely on him, like bugs crawling up his bare skin. He had to resist the urge to wrap his arms around his chest, feeling self conscious to just be wearing his shorts while she was still fully encased in her straitjacket and gas mask.

Clearing his throat Eli shifted until he was sitting cross legged on the lumpy mattress even as Tretij continued to stare at him with unnerving intensity. He couldn't feel any sense of urgency through their mental link- that was still something Eli was having a bit of difficulty fully understanding -instead it was shifting with a quagmire of numerous feelings; curiosity, amusement, fascination and some others he couldn't identity.

"...Morning," Eli tentatively greeted, unsure as to what her intentions were. He got the impression she'd been watching him for a while before he woke up which made him feel fairly uneasy and he had to remind himself she'd had plenty of opportunities to kill him before, so he doubted she'd wait until he was asleep. 

The Third Child just made a soft huff and nodded in response, the muzzle of her gas mask lightly tapping against her bony knees a few times before going still again. Sitting hunched up like that made Eli aware she was actually quite a bit smaller than he originally thought; it was probably her habit of hovering a few inches above the ground that made her seem his height but now he could see she was shorter and far thinner than him. Even so, Eli doubted he'd win a fight against her. Not that he really had any intention of starting something with her.

Shifting uneasily Eli reached over to the side table and carefully began to pull his gloves back on, the fine hair along the back of his neck standing up as Tretij continued to watch him with extreme intensity. He had no idea why she found him putting his gloves on so fascinating, though he would hazard to guess she was just used to observing everything. She certainly spent the majority of her time arriving at Mother Base spying on everyone and everything and he was still, technically, an unknown entity to her despite the weird mental link they'd formed after Sahelanthropus and their subsequent rampage yesterday.

Getting to know her better _was_ near the top of Eli's priority list. It would do no good being allies with someone he had utterly no information on. While she'd proven herself trustworthy even just in the day he'd known her he still didn't know anything about her. He tugged on the leather of his glove while searching for a topic to start; he wasn't much for conversation, since in his experience it was just a bunch of stupid adults saying too much just to delude themselves into thinking they were superior to him. Even in Africa with the other boys he'd kept most discussions short and to the point, fairly uninterested in sharing his history with the others.

Of course trying to hide things from someone who attached themselves to his mind seemed like a fairly poor idea and he didn't want to start their partnership off with lies and secrecy. He doubted it would end well for either of them further down the line.

Sensing his brooding, Tretij broadened their connection and a series of images flowed into Eli's mind; himself sitting on the helicopter across from Miller, a deep and burning sense of rage, looking through Sahelanthropus' eyes, then crushing those two Cipher troops into a splattered mess on the hanger floor. After that a questioning thought came from her, as if she was asking specifically about the deaths of the Cipher soldiers. 

"No, they weren't my first," Eli said, correctly interpreting her question. She seemed both pleased and curious by that admission, hugging her knees more tightly against her chest as she leaned forward. He flushed under her attention, confused and annoyed as to why he felt so self conscious before speaking, 'It- it wasn't. I'd killed before that, before my _father_ -" he spat out the word, "-found me in Africa. No, I killed my first man when I escaped from my handlers. I killed him and freed myself."

Eli could still easily recall the time he killed that guard; it became far easier to kill the more he did it and his death count was already over a dozen when he and Tretij went on their rampage with Sahelanthropus. For some reason the first person he ever killed stuck in his mind, Eli still able to remember the man's face as he died on the cold floors of the base. Could still remember the colour of his eyes before Eli gored them out. He didn't feel any sympathy for the man however- after all, he'd been one of Eli's jailers for as long as he could remember -but he still remembered him. Eli guessed the first kill was the one that always stuck out and the nameless dead guard should feel honoured Eli remembered him at all.

A sense of agreement seeped through the link before Tretij made a soft noise, a gentle pulse of encouragement and interest pressing forth. After a moment of brief consideration Eli made his mind; if he wanted to stop feeling so uneasy and off-kilter around her he needed to know her better. He guessed sharing the experience of his first kill with her was a good start- she understood violence and even seemed to crave it as much as he did considering the glee she exhibited during their excursion with Sahelanthropus and her approval about his plans with the virus. The first kill was also something personal he could share with the psychic; maybe it would help stop him getting so flustered around her. Death and killing was something they both understood.

Tretij obviously caught that string of thought for she perked up, body language shifting from subdued and slow to bright and alert and Eli wondered if it was because she was sitting down that she was being so expressive. Then again hovering all the time probably required a bit of thought. Eli wasn't sure, having none of those kind of abilities whatsoever.

Clearing his throat awkwardly Eli settled back on his bed, sitting across from her and feeling immensely nervous. Tretij watched him, her head cocked slightly to the side so that her hair was brushing against her shoulder. The red looked so bright compared with the black of her straitjacket and for a moment Eli was distracted by the sharp contrast of the two colours and it wasn't until she nudged his shin with her bare foot that he snapped out of it.

Blushing slightly Eli began to put his thoughts in order, still unused with the whole 'speaking with minds' thing that went on between them. At least Tretij didn't seem to mind his dithering, seemingly quite eager to find out who his first kill was. Closing his eyes Eli thought back, nearly an entire year ago. Back when he was still held by his 'handlers', a bunch of faceless people who constantly reminded him of his failure and purpose in life, who constantly watched and constantly tried to force control upon him.

Always watching.

It took months of planning and quiet observation before Eli managed to escape his imprisonment; his handlers moved location every month and kept him contained indoors so he wouldn't be able to use the environment to his advantage. After a few years began to notice a patterned between the moving, began to leave tiny chips on the base of the beds to verify that he'd been in that location before. Eli had thought of escape but the fear and constant surveillance prevented him from enacting any but as he grew older Eli knew he had to save himself; no one else would and in this place of faceless adults and harsh lights and grueling lessons the only one he could rely upon was himself. 

He wasn't allowed a clock in the cold metal rooms he slept in. He wasn't allowed anything in his room other than the bed which was bolted to the tile floor and the ugly grey clothes consisting of pants, shirt and thin-soled shoes. The bed was a mattress threaded into the steel frame. There were no sheets or blankets, so he couldn't hang himself. Nothing he could make a weapon out of. Nothing he could use to escape. 

Or so they thought.

He spent time watching the door and acting his best. It was exhausting, keeping up the act for weeks, eventually months, on end and he had to remind himself each night why he was playing the obedient little soldier to his jailers who on the whole seemed relived he was now behaving. So he could escape, so he could gain his freedom and get away from this horrible place. 

First he needed to get past the door; once he figured out how it was difficult yet doable to steal a butter knife. His obedient act had made them sloppy, less on guard and the base they were in was one of the more run-down and under staffed of the rotation; Eli made sure of it before he put his escape plan in motion.

That night he knelt next to the door and began to carefully count his heartbeats, counting how many passed to coincide with the footsteps of the regular patrols outside his room. On schedule the first patrol walk past and Eli had previously counted around three hundred heartbeats before the next set would past on his careful surveillance the last six weeks. 

It took a hundred and eighteen heartbeats to place the sharpened tip of the knife in the key hole and carefully beginning to press it firmly down before pushing up, wiggling it back and forth before he heard a near inaudible _click._ Breath tight and eager he quickly pulled the knife from the key hole and slid it between the door and the door jamb's striker plate. Sweat began to bead his brow as Eli twisted the knife until the latch shifted inwards, struggling to not push down too hard and break the plastic. Quickly he shifted the knife along the gap until it was a few inches above the adjacent door knob and then pushed it down, hitting the door bolt with a small jolt. Tightening his sweaty grip on the knife handle Eli pushed it in until he forced the bolt out of the door jam, causing the door to shift open as he did so.

Success.

Almost two hundred and thirty heartbeats had passed by now and Eli knew he had to move, had to move _fast_ before the next guard walked past and caught him.

Of course he knew already fate hated him; Eli cursed under his breath as the man rounded and corner and froze at the sight of him outside of his room. For a long moment the two stared at each other before the man's hand dropped to his belt and he snatched up his radio, no doubt to call for help. On pure reflex Eli threw the plastic knife at him, the sharpened edge slicing open the back of the guard's hand and causing him to curse and drop his radio.

Eli knew in that instant that if he didn't kill this guard then his handlers would lock him up in such a way he'd _never_ be able to escape again. This was his one chance at freedom and in that instant he viewed his escape more important than the life of one of his jailers.

With that flash of understanding Eli flung himself forward, leaping right at the guard without a hesitation. The man was so shocked at Eli's attack he didn't have time to scream before Eli was on him, using the man's leg as leverage to fling himself at the adult's face, smacking the heel of his palm against the guard's chin. The man's teeth slammed shut, biting off the tip off his tongue from the force as Eli's chest struck the man's sternum, the momentum knocking them both over onto the cold tiled floor.

Eli reflectively smacked his knee hard into the man's jaw, keeping his mouth shut to prevent him from screaming and seizing a handful of the man's brown hair. All the lessons his handler's had beaten into him surged forth, training about the weakest part of the human body, the part which hurt and debilitated the most. With those thoughts pulsing behind his temple Eli yanked his other hand forward, ramming his thumb into the guard's left eye with all his strength. Adrenaline made him sloppy and fast, his thumb skidding past the center of the eyeball and jamming up against the socket and lid with a horrid _squelch._ Ignoring the man's muffled screams of agony Eli bared his teeth and just jammed his thumb in deeper until he felt the eyeball give way with a wet popping noise, causing fluid and jelly to go spitting up his hand and wrist. 

A sharp pain in his side caused Eli to snarl, belatedly realizing the man had managed grabbed the knife off his belt in the middle of Eli's attempted eye-goring. Adrenaline made him temporarily immune to pain, yanking the weapon from the thrashing guard's hand and ignoring as it bit into his palm, flipping the knife and then ramming the sharp blade into the guard's other eye. Over and over he stabbed the man, the knife piecing his eyeball numerous times and chipping the bone of the socket before rational thought flooded back into Eli's brain, overriding his rage and panic. Half falling off the guard Eli whipped the knife across the dying guard's throat.

The blood didn't spray; instead it seeped, like a thick crimson ooze and stained the guard's white uniform and began to puddle along the tiles beneath his cooling corpse. Eli stared at him for a long moment, the bloody knife clutched against his chest before he moved into action, snatching the key card off the dead man's belt and fleeing down the corridor, his breath tight and jagged.

After that it had been a blur; escaping the facility and bolting off into the wilderness. It was dark and foreign but it was freedom and that's all Eli cared about.

"His eyes were brown," Eli explained, pulling himself out of the memory and back to where he was sitting on his bed, "Like the earth after it rains. Well they were, until I gored them out of his head."

Tretij made a soft noise across from him, deep curiosity and contentment emanating through their link along with a brief surge of approval. He could sense her lingering over the memory of the guard's eye rupturing, over watching the blood seep from the long slit in his throat. Eli still remembered being taken aback by how much blood was in a human body; he'd bled before during his handlers 'training' but with the guard it had just continued to spill out. Now he was used to it, having killed again but at the time he'd been tempted to stay and watch the red liquid pump out of the deep gash.

"What about you?" Eli asked. He tried to keep his tone neutral, not wanting to pressure her into sharing such intimate experiences without her being in full agreement.

Apparently he didn't have to worry about it for barely a second passed from him uttering his question that she pushed her memories through their link. However they were hazy, unlike the sharp images she'd shared when she'd been updating him on her surveillance of Mother Base and Eli realized it was because the memories were so old. Images of large flocks of sheep and faceless people, of a run down wooden house and rows of crops.

Then a man, who Eli couldn't make out of features of but was accompanied by a whirlwind of emotions; betrayal, rage, hatred and grim acceptance. Something she'd found out from the man with her abruptly awakening abilities, which caused a flurry of terror then fire. Fire consuming everything, the man screaming and writhing in agony before dying. The stench of burning meat and the images of dozens of houses being set of fire then the blistering, searing pain lancing across his own face-

Eli snapped back in the present, a hand reflectively slapping against his jaw as he felt certain he'd feel fire clawing at his flesh even as his heart hammed in his chest. A leather encased hand haphazardly papped at his face and he lowered his arm, suddenly feeling immensely foolish to see Tretij now only a few inches away from him and was leaning forward while radiating concern and anxiety through their mental link.

"I'm fine," he said, struggling to slow his breathing, "I just didn't think..." _Just didn't think you'd gotten burned._ He could still feel the flames licking at his face, the sensation hideously vivid compared with the murkiness of the rest of the memory.

Remorse shifted through their meld and Tretij lowered her arm and shuffled back, the long belts hanging off her sleeves brushing against Eli's bare shins as she moved away. Her messy red hair momentarily distracted him, thinking back to fire and blood before he shook off the thought.

"Did you...did you know who you killed?" Eli asked, both out of curiosity and wanting to change the subject. 

Tretij eyed him for a few more moments and he was half convinced she was going to ask him if he was alright but she complied, instead pressing a series of quick impressions at him about the man with a blurry face and hate.

"He was your father?"

She nodded, a violent sense of loathing and betrayal bubbling over at him and Eli was torn between congratulating her and offering her a semblance of sympathy. From the rage he could feel from her he was partly convinced she'd hit him- of throw him into a wall -regardless of his option so he instead simply fell silent. Clearly her emotions towards her parent was different from his, and from the memories he gathered she'd suddenly felt her father's thoughts one day and saw how the man hated her. Eli couldn't relate at all, being raised by a bunch faceless adults and hating his father from as long ago as he could remember. He didn't know how he would've reacted if he'd been raised by someone he trusted only to find out they hated him and wanted him dead all along.

The two sat in a brooding silence for over a minute, Eli absently toying with his necklace while Tretij sat across from him, her raspy breath being the loudest noise in the room. He'd achieved his goal but Eli got the impression he'd gotten it in the worst way possible. Regardless, Tretij hadn't killed him so he doubted she was severely upset over it and he felt as if he knew her better- or at least have a faint understanding of her. It even made him slightly morbidly curious to see her face but he'd never ask her such a thing outright. Her secrets were now his secrets and he more than anyone understood what it was like to hate his own appearance.

She caught that last string of thought and approval banished the rage washing against him followed by a odd sense of warmth. Then she shook herself slightly, like a wet dog, before a feeling of intensity took over. Then Eli felt a weird sensation on the bare skin of his chest, like it had a shifting pressure scuttling over it and he glanced down to see his necklace made of jackal teeth hovering a few inches from his skin.

"Ah...it's made from the teeth of jackals; I killed them myself," Eli said, a hint of pride entering his voice as he ran a finger along the front most tooth. Fascination and growing interest crossed through their link and Tretij leaned forward; she was close enough Eli could see her eyes through the orange-tinted glass of her gas mask, her focus completely centered on his necklace of teeth.

Eli concentrated, trying to center his attention back to the memories he had of that fight; it had been only within the first day of his escape from his handlers and all he'd been armed with was his knife. His bloody feet had been what led the animals to him, the thin soles of his original shoes wearing through from his running and letting stone and broken branches slice into the soles of his feet. The pack had been small, only three golden jackals, but it was the first time he'd been attacked by wild animals while alone and hurt.

Luckily he still had his knife, which he pulled out on reflex when he was overcome by the sensation of being watched while he was hiking through some thick underbrush nearing dusk. He quickly put a tree to his back and turned around just in time to see the first jackal leap out of the shrubbery as a tawny blur and latch itself onto his arm, sharp teeth sinking through the skin and biting into the muscle.

After that it had been a pulsing haze of panic; he stabbed the jackal hanging off his arm and it left go with a yelp but another darted in and bit him in leg, yanking him off balance and making him land with a thud on his back onto the dirt. The animal then pounced on him and it was only Eli's fist smacking the jackal's chest that stopped him from getting a mouthful of teeth embedded into his face. This time he managed to kill the jackal in one hit, the knife sinking into the ragged fur along the creature's throat and tearing it open. Hot blood splattered his face and chest as Eli shoved the dying animal off him and he killed the next one with a vicious stab to the eye. The final beast managed to bite open his shin and then came incredibly close to ripping out his throat; only Eli twisting at the last minute stopped the jackal from getting the soft flesh of his jugular and instead its sharp teeth sliced open a long gash along his jaw.

He remained slumped against the ground for a long moment, breath harsh and ragged before he looked over at the three dead golden jackals scattered around him. Slowly he shuffled over to the nearest animal, kneeling down next to its corpse even as his injuries throbbed in protest. It was moreso due to a morbid sense of curiosity that he touched it, running his hand through its still warm fur until he reached its face. When he peeled back the jackal's lip he could see the pink stains on the sharp white teeth; his blood.

For a long moment he stared at the jackal's teeth before making up his mind, digging his knife into the gum and slowly carving out the animal's eye tooth. He worked slowly and methodically, moving onto the next corpse when he finished the first. By the time he was done the sun had fully set and the full moon was painting the land in cold hard light. Undeterred Eli kept the teeth close as he left, hopping over the jackal and vanishing into the undergrowth. 

When he found a small village a few days later he carved holes into the teeth and threaded some thick twine through them as a trophy. Animal or human, he'd kill anyone who tried to kill him.

Eli ran his finger down the center most tooth, glancing over at Tretij who was still watching him intently, "So it's a trophy, so to speak. Also the first real kill I made outside of that place, those three jackals."

She hummed in response while eyeing the necklace before pushing a thought across their link, her mind lingering over the images of the dead golden jackals before shifting back to their separated teeth.

"A jackal? It's like a...a kind of dog."

An image of Big Boss's dog crossed Eli's mind from her and he shook his head, "That dog is a, it's a different kind of dog. Jackals are the same species, but they're not like that one. He looks more like a wolf anyway."

That just seemed to confuse her further and Eli understood that; during his lessons with his handlers he'd been forced to learn about many species- usually the poisonous ones -which did help when he was running around lost in the wilderness. Trying to memorize all the species and sub-species was difficult, however, so Eli tried to simplify it down, saying, "They're still part of the same group. Just like how you and I are human, despite looking different and you being a girl while I'm a boy."

Tretij made a very strange noise at that, like she'd attempted to suck in a breath but snorted with laughter at the same time so it came out as a strangled, high-pitched wheeze. She started coughing, the noise distorted by her gasmask as she started to slap at her chest. Eli watched with some concern before scowling as he caught the emotions coming from her over their meld; exasperation, bemusement and overriding it was a vibrant sense of amusement.

He was about to ask what was wrong when she abruptly froze in place, her breath still wheezy and off-kilter before she vanished in a puff of smoke. Eli glanced around in confusion before jumping in place as someone knocked loudly on his door.

"What?" He barked, instantly directing his annoyance at whoever was bothering him.

"It's nearing lunch time, kid," A Diamond Dog soldier said on the other side of the door, voice muffled, "You shouldn't brood in there all day."

Eli scowled, tempted to curse the soldier out or throw something at the door before his thoughts shifted back to vial he had hidden in his room. Right, best behaviour. So instead he snapped, "Fine. Go away."

An annoyed grumble then footsteps as the person departed and Eli shifted on the bed before hopping off and starting to pull his discarded boots back on. As he bent down to tie up the laces his necklace of jackal teeth swayed at the forefront of his line of sight and he paused, staring intently at the sharp white enamel. 

Tretij had liked hearing his story about the teeth and it had even made her laugh at some point. While it didn't have the same emotional impact of their killing stories it hadn't made her angry like her recollection of killing her father and Eli felt oddly inclined to make her happy- at least towards him in any case, especially if they were stuck waiting until they cracked Emmerich in regards to Sahelanthropus. He just felt a strange urge to make her notice him or at least make her friendly towards him even if her being in close proximity with himself made Eli feel off balance and out of sorts.

Eli made up his mind as he threw his coat on; he'd make her a necklace of teeth just like he had. After all, Mother Base had an entire platform dedicated to containing animals. It wouldn't be hard to get there, kill one of the animals and hack out its teeth.

It'd be the perfect gift.


	3. Chapter 3

While the Diamond Dogs as a whole were fairly stupid and oblivious they were even more so lately Eli noticed, lulled into a sense of misguided security and foolishness following the death of Skull Face and retrieval of Sahelanthropus. Therefore it was almost pathetically easy for Eli to sneak onto one of the helicopters that routinely dropped off supplies to the Animal Conservation Platform, slinking off as the pilot lapsed into conversation with one of the Diamond Dog soldiers stationed there, completely oblivious to his presence.

Carefully he prowled around the platform, eyeing a few soldiers in the distance as they casually patrolled the hordes of caged animals. Eli took extreme care to keep out of their line of sight while he occasionally peered over railings to try and see the animals inside. He needed something with _teeth_ and while he found quite a few small cages housing some very angry snakes and a lonely hedgehog they weren't exactly what he was looking for.

As he made his way to the staircase so he could access the lower level Eli nearly ran into a soldier and quickly ducked around the corner, pressing himself between the wall and some distended piping. The woman didn't give him a second glance as she strode past, humming some inane song under her breath as she carried on walking along the platform. On the lower level were other, larger enclosures however they all seemed to be full of herbivores like zebra and long-horned sheep or small carnivores like vultures and even a small skulk of foxes.

Eli was disappointed at the lack of wolves as he wouldn't have minded killing one of them. There weren't any where he was in Africa so he didn't have a chance to hunt them to his initial disappointment. Whatever, after a while _humans_ were the ones he hunted and a far more exciting prey they were so he considered it a fair exchange but he couldn't do that now he was on Mother Base. Not yet anyway; the parasites would see to that eventuality.

Regardless that was for another time and as he peered over the railings of the next enclosure he paused, eyes narrowing as his attention focused on the lone animal within. He recognized the lanky creature's speckled coat, coloured in tawny brown, black and white, having encountered a few of them while he was roaming around in the wilderness after his escape from his handlers. An African Wild Dog.

Not what he'd been originally after but his boys had killed enough- and been killed by -for Eli to know the dogs could be fairly vicious prey with a bite to match. He quickly scanned the rest of the enclosure but apparently there was only one of the dogs in the pen; made his objective easier, even if fighting a pack of them would've been a welcome challenge.

It was insultingly easy for Eli to climb up onto the railing so he was looking down on the enclosure, eyeing the dog as it sniffed at the edged of its pen before the lanky creature went circling back. Obviously being in captivity had made the creature compliant or perhaps it was still feeling the lingering affects of sedation, since it didn't even notice him perched precariously on the railing above it. Eli dropped down on the dog, landing on its back even as he swung his knife down and stabbed it in the nape of the neck.

The angle of the blade and his momentum jammed the knife deep past the fur and tissue, sinking into the tendons within the neck vertebrae and killing it instantly. Eli gave a grunt as he struck the ground, scraping his knee and elbow as he nimbly rolled off the animal. Quickly he glanced around but none of the Mother Base soldiers appeared and the only things taking an interest in his antics were the beady-eyed vultures in the far side cage. 

Looking back at the African Wild Dog Eli firmly gripped the handle of his knife and yanked it from the dog's ruff, the blade stained in blood. He titled the knife, fascinated by the dripping scarlet and how closely the colour resembled Tretij's hair. Could she even bleed? He was unsure, considering she seemed utterly unaffected by gunfire and had no issues with spying on an entire base of enemy soldiers who would most likely have no qualms whatsoever about shooting her if she was spotted.

Absentmindedly Eli reached out and swiped his thumb along the flat of the blade, the still warm blood smearing across his glove before he licked it off. The hot coppery taste was familiar and sharp in his mouth.

Next to him the dog's speckled ruff began to steadily seep blood, staining the fur a dark brick red before slowly creeping along the ground. Eli watched it with vague interest, shifting around until he was kneeling next to its prone head. He kept the dog's corpse in place with a knee in the throat as he peeled back the animal's lip with one hand and pressed the tip of his bloody blade against its gums with the other.

"Just what do you think you're doing, young man?" The angry exclamation caused Eli to freeze, inwardly cursing. He'd been so preoccupied with hacking out the dog's tooth he forgot to keep an eye on his surroundings and thus remained oblivious to the Diamond Dog soldier as she entered the animal enclosure and strode over to where he was kneeling next to the dead dog.

She was smart enough not to get close enough while he was still holding a knife, instead halting a few feet away with a disapproving look settling heavily over her features. Eli studied her face closely, fairly sure her name was 'Flaming Buffalo' or something along those lines. He'd spent some time spying on the soldiers when he first arrived at Mother Base and thus would typically know the barebone information about them, usually to coincide with their patrols and so he could adapt to their personalities and skills. Apparently Buffalo had some breathing condition he overheard some troops talking about in the cafeteria last week but Eli could grudgingly respect her desire to fight even while occasionally suffering from mild suffocation.

A dedication he could respect, even if he had no tolerance for her interruption right now so he just sneered at her slightly before directing his attention back to his task via jamming his knife hard into the dogs pink gum, working steadily to gore out the incisor.

"Stop that!"

"No," he snapped, not even bothering to look at her as he worked.

The woman's grey eyes narrowed and for a second it looked like she was about to try physically yanking him away from the dog before catching herself and she instead planted her hands on her hips.

"What're you even doing? Killing that dog- I'm fairly sure the cafeteria staff are feeding you lot, there's not need for this," she said sternly. She had the same tone Miller did whenever the man started lecturing him about something Eli didn't care about whatsoever. Bunch of fools.

"I didn't kill it to eat it," he retorted, even if a part of him was faintly amused she assumed he was just going to eat the animal raw, "I just need its teeth. Feed it to the other animals when I'm done or just toss it over the railings. I don't care."

"What do you even need its teeth for?"

Eli just grumbled in response, working his blade into the side of the tooth before grabbing it with his free hand and ripping it from the dogs mouth with a wet tearing sound like shredding cloth. Buffalo made a disgusted noise but still didn't try to physically restrain him. She must've learned not to try and grab him from seeing his previous reactions, unlike other moronic Mother Base soldiers had in the past. Eli frowned, ignoring the woman as he rotated the tooth around; there was still some gum and blood staining the root but that would be easy enough to clean out.

With a grunt he got to his feet, giving Buffalo a short glare. She raised her eyebrows slightly, lips pressed into a thin, humorlessness line before gesturing towards his chest, "You've already got a brace of teeth, you're really that eager to make another so you killed an innocent animal?"

"No," Eli said, glaring at the woman, "Besides it isn't for me, it's for-" he immediately snapped his mouth shut, cursing inwardly at his slip up. His irritation at the woman's presence was making him sloppy.

Buffalo's stern expression shifted from irritation to confusion, "Then who's it for? One of the boys?"

Eli scoffed loudly at that, not even bothering to hide his immense derision for that suggestion. While he appreciated many of his troops back in Africa he couldn't put them on par with the Third Child and wouldn't commit favours towards them like he would her. It just wasn't the same.

"So who else is there, hmm? A gift for a girl perhaps?" she asked flippantly while rolling her eyes.

"What? No-" Eli faltered, caught off guard by her question and unable to stop the hot blush that spread across his face. He had no idea why having it so blatantly spelled out was making his get so flustered and he suddenly wanted to stab her with the tooth for making him suddenly so nervous.

"Really?" Buffalo was clearly completely caught off guard by his embarrassment, saying in surprise, "You _did_ get this for a girl?"

Eli just grumbled and inwardly he felt Tretij curiously probe at his mind, no doubt reacting to his suddenly panicked and heightened emotions. Quickly he tried to shove her out as well as he was able, trying to fend her out of his head before she realized what he was doing. Irritation and confusion came from her end of the meld followed by reluctance compliance before she retreated and Eli was again alone in his mind. At this point however Eli was fairly sure his face was as red as the pool of blood on the ground next to him.

"Well, as cute that as that sounds you still shouldn't be here," Buffalo's voice cut in, voice still stern even if her entire body language had visibly softened, "You could've gotten badly hurt. What if that was a bear in this cage?"

Eli blinked before looking down at the slightly bloody incisor he was holding in one hand. Now that Buffalo mentioned it a bear tooth _would_ be a better offering.

The Diamond Dog soldier obviously caught that train of thought on his face for she immediately started scolding him, "Oh no you don't! Last thing I need is you running off and getting into a knife fight with a bear because one of you are going to wind up dead and I'll be the one forced to explain that to Master Miller. So no fighting bears, young man."

With an annoyed grunt Eli put hooked knife back on his belt before running his fingers along the tooth, studying the yellowish keratin for a moment.

"You shouldn't kill animals for something so trivial," Buffalo tried again, shifting around until she was standing in front him. The wind picked up slightly, ruffling her ponytail of light brown hair and causing the ends of Eli's coat to flutter. 

He ignored the chilly ocean breeze to fix the soldier with the most unimpressed look he could muster, not even bothering to hide his ridicule for her words, "It's just a beast," Eli scoffed, "Who cares if it's dead?"

The look she gave him made Eli want to knife her; a kind of distorted pity and resignation before she tried a different track altogether, "Anyway girls typically don't like dead things as gifts, you know."

"What then?" he asked, only paying half attention to the woman. He was tempted to just leave but while he was fairly confidant he could incapacitate or even kill her if push came to shove Eli had to remind himself he was still supposed to be behaving, if only to keep everyone's guard down and prevent the discovery of the parasites before the time was right. Even so he had to grudgingly admit a woman probably had a better idea to what a girl would like as a offering. He didn't really want to think of it as a 'gift', as that trail of thought would just make him flustered all over again.

Buffalo was oblivious to his inner turmoil and instead gestured around the enclosure which was covered in grass and various flora, saying "Flowers are a good starter."

 _Flowers? What can you even do with those,_ Eli scowled at the woman, asking, "So I should give her poisonous ones?"

Tretij could probably kill a few Diamond Dogs that way, tainting their drinks with poisonous plants while they were unaware of her presence. Actually now that he thought about that, that would probably be a fairly entertaining course of action. They could hardly blame him for that, however he suspected they'd find a way anyway. Mother Base as a whole did seem justifiably wary of him.

 _As they should be,_ Eli thought, slightly pleased before thinking upon Buffalo's suggestion. He learned of flora while with his handlers, studying numerous poisonous and beneficial plants with their side affects and medical purposes. Knowledge that came in handy while he was loose and lost in Africa as it helped him stave off infection and fevers while avoiding being poisoned.

Buffalo meanwhile looked rather taken off guard by his train of thought, answering him quickly with a, "No, girls don't like being given poison."

"Why would she even want flowers then?" he asked, "There's no purpose for them other than that," _Besides I don't even know if she can bleed or be injured so she wouldn't need the medical ones anyway._

"Flowers..." Buffalo trailed off, her gloved fingers tapping against her chin before she continued, "They're soft, pretty. They help to remind a woman there is more to life than just gunfights and killing. That there's more to life than fighting all the time."

"She doesn't care about peace," Eli snorted, his lip curling, "She doesn't really talk that much anyway and likes killing things."

"Ah," Buffalo's face shifted into a secretive smile and she gave Eli a strange look filled with fondness which confused him further. The woman looked like she figured out something and she said, voice warm, "Well I'm sure your _lady friend_ ," Here she put emphasis on the words and gave Eli a wink which baffled him further, "Wouldn't mind some flowers. After all, you never know until you try and I'm sure she'll appreciate the gesture; after all, I'm a woman so I know what we like."

"...right."

At this point Eli just wanted to leave. The soldier's sudden switch in attitude was starting to put him on edge, especially with the almost gleeful expression on her face. She'd obviously come to some ridiculous conclusion that made her happy and he doubted it was 'foreign psychic girl is spying on us'. Adults were stupid and strange to him, women even moreso. Well Tretij wasn't, but she was as different from the blindly obedient Mother Base soldiers as he was.

"Now you get back to the main base," Buffalo interrupted his thoughts, voice becoming stern again as she glanced at the dead African Wild Dog lying in a puddle of blood a few feet away, "I'll cover for you with this, but only once you understand me? I don't want to catch you over here murdering anymore animal or you can explain that to Master Miller."

"Fine," Eli didn't know why the woman was covering for him but her foolishness and misplaced empathy was to his advantage so he wasn't going to complain.

Expression still soft Buffalo straighten up and started to rummage around in the satchel attached to her belt before pulling out a black carrot, the green bud tipped with white flowers. She twisted the flowers off the black root before offering them to him, saying, "I was harvesting these before I noticed your little foray into the dog pen. Try giving them to your cru- your friend, since you seem adamant she's a practical one. These aren't too elaborate and I'm sure she'll appreciate the gesture."

Eli cautiously took the plants from her, eyeing Buffalo carefully. He was still on alert by the abrupt switch in personality and the woman looked moments away from cooing at him or something just as horrid. Tretij was also lurking at the edges of his consciousness which was making him feel even more skittish but she was keeping to her earlier agreement to leave him be to which he was grateful, having an almost overwhelming desire to keep her oblivious to his currently off-kilter state despite knowing she wouldn't actually care or really understand.

"Now off with you," Buffalo said, stepping closer to the dead dog while taking care not to stand in the puddle of blood, "I have to deal with this, and I can't keep an eye on you at the same time."

"Fine," he repeated, "I'm leaving," and he did just that, walking past the Diamond Dog soldier and out of the cage. Eli glanced back as he reached the stairs and Buffalo waved at him from where she was crouched next to the dog, causing him to scowl before ascending. Whatever, if she wanted to think she befriend him so be it. He could probably use that misguided sense of hers in the future.

Getting back to the main structure of Mother Base was easy as he just got onto the supply helicopter, completely ignoring the bewildered pilot as he studied the bloody tooth and long-stemmed white flowers he was holding. Eli had to grudgingly admit he had achieved his original objective even if he only managed to carve out one tooth before he got caught. A mistake brought on by lack of vigilance for his surroundings but at least Buffalo's odd behaviour after he admitted the tooth was intended as a gift meant he escaped any punishment or further scrutiny. He still didn't know why she seemed to find the news so interesting, especially since Eli left it vague enough about who he intended the incisor for in the first place even thought in hindsight he was frustrated he said anything at all to Buffalo. He needed more self control, however the stupidity and evasiveness of the adults within Mother Base made his temper severely short.

 _That soldier could be correct,_ Eli grudgingly allowed, _Since she is a woman..._ He didn't like admitting that, however. It made him feel weak and he had enough of that while imprisoned by the handlers.

Whatever. He'd give them to Tretij and see how she reacted then he'd know which she favoured. Or maybe she'd reject both or even not understand what he was doing; for some reason that that made him unreasonably anxious. He hated this unease and almost panicked feeling that overcame him whenever he started thinking about it, or her, too much. 

_Maybe it's a side effect of piloting Sahelanthropus together._

If that's the case his unreasonable reactions should be gone in a few days. Hopefully.

* * *

After getting back to the main structure of Mother Base Eli had put the incisor and flowers on the desk in his room before leaving for the cafeteria, ignoring the ball of nervousness that was building in his gut at the prospect of offering the gifts to his new ally.

Lunch was fried horse mackerel with a side salad, which sufficiently distracted him from his churning emotions and thoughts. He didn't bother eating the leafy greens- food for prey in his opinion -but he grudgingly ate the battered fish. Fish was full of protein and healthy oils and he'd eaten his fair share after getting loose and being on the run. At least it was still edible even raw so on those nights when Eli was too paranoid to light a fire for fear it would lead those hunting him to his location he could still eat something meaty. Didn't mean he enjoyed it that much and the battered fried fish was tasty enough so he devoured all three in rapid succession.

During his lunch break however a few of his boys from Africa stopped to speak with him; Eli had been so distracted by Tretij that he'd forgotten to speak to them at any point yesterday after the whole incident with Sahelanthropus, considering he would typically check in with them every few hours. While he spoke with them he felt Tretij shifting through their mental link before seemingly getting immediately bored with the conversation and directing her attention elsewhere.

Hunting down the other groups of children of the base and speaking with them- or even just watching them idly from a distance -got the same reaction from her.

Tretij overall seemed fairly uninterested in the other children with the majority of her attention being fixated on Eli, their plans or spying on Mother Base as a whole. It deeply gratified and pleased him to know she'd chosen him over all others- not just the other children but over Big Boss, Skull Face and even the Man on Fire. He was still unsure of just _what_ the Man on Fire even was and when he asked her about it Tretij's attempts to explain it to him left him confused from the influx of memories she shared with him; thoughts of a giant tank, burning scar tissue, a petite man with silver hair, electricity and explosions then pain and darkness which then all became consumed by mindless rage fixed towards a obnoxiously familiar man with an eye-patch.

That disjointed attempt from her left Eli with another headache and a strong certainty that the Man on Fire was more _dead_ than alive, a husk possessed by the barest amounts of awareness. Eli wondered if that made him a weird flaming zombie though he could respect the man's determination in killing Big Boss. Death hadn't really seemed to slow that hatred down, something he could respect.

Eli went back to his perch up on one of the upper levels after that, mainly to avoid speaking with any of the soldiers while being bothered with the sudden headache. Tretij was waiting there, having sensed his intent and a part of Eli was suddenly concerned about the fact he'd never seen her eat before. Considering how skinny she was she'd definitely need the additional weight and Eli had seen what starvation could do to a person from his time on the run and his subsequent command in Africa. Trying to broach the issue with her was like talking to a brick wall however, with her insisting she was fine and would sneak into the kitchen during the night-shifts even if the question seemed to make her confused- if not slightly pleased -over his sudden concern.

What followed was a weirdly awkward silence, leaving Eli feeling out of sorts and feeling increasingly defensive before Tretij mutely brought up the parasites again, offering up to him the knowledge she'd gathered about them from her past interactions with Skull Face.

"The parasites?" Eli leaned back in his chair, frowning thoughtfully, "They attach themselves to vocal cords, I know that much. Also there are different breeds for different languages."

Approval emanated from her before being closely followed by images of fire and blood, a dilapidated building covered in gore and dying prisoners. Eli was fairly inured to violence but he still felt disturbed of the images from the Devil's House she shared with him, showing numerous dying prisoners with microphones and speakers implanted within their throats with the low drone of dozens of languages sounding like white noise. Luckily Tretij had her mask on, so she didn't have to deal with the stink of rotting flesh and infected wounds constantly invading her nose. Eli had been sick a few times before he got used to the smell while in Africa and seeing the dead and dying the first few times.

The information she gave him of the Devil's House and her scant observations of the parasite growth was quite interesting, even if some of it was distorted by Skull Face's appearance and thoughts before he saw Big Boss through Tretij's eyes with her attacking him through the Man on Fire. Eli found it fairly confusing at all the conflicting emotions as Tretij seemed to flit from each mind before another image came through their link, of a boy lying on a stretcher, bloody and weak.

 _Shabani,_ Eli knew the boy's name instantly, almost instinctively. Tretij's interest in the other boy was fleeting, with her attention causing him to quickly succumb to smoke inhalation and dying moments later, but Eli was nearly rendered incoherent from something that churned like acid through his gut after she shared the memory with him and Eli stormed off in a rage, much to Tretij's confusion.

His pride and possessiveness didn't appreciate the knowledge that Tretij had expressed interest in any of the other children even if it was just to kill one of them, and in his fit of jealously he later ripped Shabani's necklace from one of the other children on the base and hurled it into a nearby chlorine disinfectant tank. To his anger that Quiet woman nearly killed herself to retrieve only a few minutes later and Eli gave serious thought to taking the necklace again and flinging it into the ocean. The weird mute woman would have a hard time finding it in there.

However that had to wait for a different time and so he instead sat on the edge of the platform and brooded for a few hours, thoughts heavy with violence and anger. Tretij was just confused over the whole incident- and seemingly mildly entertained by the injuries Quiet suffered -and in the back of Eli's mind he felt her curiously poke around before Eli gave in and told about the tooth from the African Wild Dog and the flowers to take his mind off Shabani. He did make sure to not include the conversation with Buffalo, instead just sharing the memories of killing the dog which fascinated her.

Face burning Eli dismissed her bemusement over the flowers, instead mutely telling her she could have them and the tooth while trying to stave off his rampant self consciousness and nervousness. He was fed up with feeling like that but he was right in knowing Tretij didn't seem to understand why he was so flustered. She seemed mildly concerned and even a bit baffled but didn't press the issue when he refused to elaborate upon it further. However when he went to bed later that night the tooth was gone from his desk and what remained of the white flowers were the green stems. She'd eaten the flowers themselves.

 _Good thing I didn't get poisonous ones then,_ Eli thought, eyeing the remains of the plant on the desk. He felt extremely satisfied that she'd taken the tooth with her, ears burning and fighting off the urge of grin. He didn't know why her accepting his gift made him so... _pleased_ and a part of Eli felt frustrated over his unruly emotions when the psychic came up in his thoughts. Regardless, she accepted his gifts and Eli counted that as a victory, however slight it may be. 

Kicking off his boots he shrugged off his coat, yawning slightly. The monotony of Mother Base was getting to him again and he had to figure out a plan with Sahelanthropus and the parasites. He'd forgotten about them both in the fairly interesting morning he'd had and Eli inwardly scolded himself as he took off his gloves. He was getting careless and he could ill-afford such antics, even if he had an ally with him in the bowels of Mother Base and his gift-giving incident had overridden the thought of everything else.

 _I'll deal with it tomorrow,_ Eli decided before rolling onto his bed and glancing over at the flowerless stems on his desk again, feeling oddly content, _Even if I have to deal with that Emmerich creep in order to fix the machine. We'll have to find a way to force him, and to be subtle enough it won't raise suspicions._

Not something he looked forward to as Eli preferred a more headstrong approach but it had to be done. When Eli finally fell asleep his dreams were full of dripping blood, vengeance and fields of flowers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm still super glad that Tretij's ingame model in TPP has a tiny mole on his neck. Shoutout to that texture artist lol

Eli woke up the next day at the break of dawn as usual. It was a habit from his days back during his imprisonment by the handlers that was hard to break even if his yesterday stint of sleeping until lunch was something excessive mental exhaustion brought on. Regardless, the habit was too ingrained for one off-kilter day to have him forgo, as was the instinctual knowledge of when he was being watched in his sleep, a sensation that was getting steadily harder and harder to ignore, even as a foreign feeling of amusement and something else he couldn't identify began to wash through his mind.

Lips pressing into a thin line he reluctantly opened his eyes and there was Tretij, sitting on the floor next to his bed with the muzzle of her gas mask resting on the mattress only a few inches from his face. Eli scowled at her, but was more irritated with her waking him up than her watching him sleep. He'd gotten the feeling she'd been watching him at night before as well but he didn't mind after the first feeling of unease; it was comforting almost to know someone was watching over him while he was at his most vulnerable especially since he knew through their link she wouldn't turn on him and would be more than willing to come to his aid if someone tried to kill him in his sleep.

However at the moment she seemed to be radiating a deep sense of smugness and slowly growing eagerness as she shifted from her position on the floor before teleporting so she was sitting on the end of his bed. She tucked her thin legs up against her chest like she'd done yesterday morning before making a low noise while impatiently prodding his mind again, obviously desiring his undivided attention. Shoving off his grogginess Eli moved so he was leaning back against the metal headrest, the cold seeping into his bare skin while again feeling weirdly self conscious without his coat on. Shoving that aside he scrubbed at his eyes a few times before centering his attention on Tretij.

"Well? What is it?" he finally asked, eyeing the redheaded psychic. Whatever she was thinking about pleased her as she hummed softly before broadening the mental link between them and pressing through the information she'd gathered throughout the night.

At least after the last few incidents she didn't just try to cram everything into his head in one go, instead it was a slow impression of images, thoughts and feelings, seemingly centered on the Emmerich man. Tretij had spent some time carefully observing him last night after Eli shared his plans about Sahelanthropus when they first returned, her immediately agreeing Emmerich was their only way of fixing the giant bipedal nuclear tank. However while she was watching Emmerich last night while Eli slept she'd apparently discovered the man was experimenting with a strain of the Kikongo vocal cord parasite.

Eli knew enough from his previous spying on the Diamond Dog soldiers that his father had enlisted the aid of the old man Code Talker to nullify the specific strain of parasite that had infected Mother Base a few weeks back before he arrived. Emmerich however was apparently devising a way to mutate the parasites so that Wolbachia strain Code Talker had introduced to render the parasites harmless would be useless against containing it, essentially freeing the parasites from any future counter measures.

Eli was rather bemused at Emmerich's actions however, since from what Tretij observed the man seemed to have no preservation skills whatsoever. While Eli could understand wanting to kill Mother Base and all the soldiers she housed, it was another thing to have no plans to escape whatsoever like Emmerich appeared had, the man's arrogance and twisted logic somehow assuring himself he'd be safe from harm and scrutiny. Whatever, the stupidity of that man wasn't Eli's problem- however if Emmerich was caught before or immediately after he infested Mother Base then they wouldn't be able to use him to repair Sahelanthropus. They needed to be sneaky about this- making sure that Emmerich went through with his own plan for the mutated parasites while making sure he still repaired the damaged Sahelanthropus.

That last one Eli was puzzling over how to approach but before he could contemplate on it further Tretij pressed on the contact between them, seamlessly passing along the impression that she had that part of the plan covered and would report back to him when she succeeded. While a part of him was curious as to what she intended to do she radiated such a sense of grim determination and resoluteness that Eli accepted her judgement call without criticism; it felt odd to have such a weird trust towards one of his soldiers but he had an absolute certainty that she would never betray him. Even in Africa he'd been on guard around the other boys, a deep sense of paranoia preventing him from ever really placing the entirety of his trust in them. He didn't feel that with Tretij, either from the fact she had been as eager to become allies with him as he had, or because they were joined through a mental link which made hiding things between them fairly difficult.

Either way, she was certainly proving herself to go beyond his expectations and a deep sensation of gratitude and appreciation welled up inside him towards her. Yes, this was someone he felt that he could trust and could put faith in her own initiative. Her previous actions and this information made him sure of it and Eli felt the urge to say so aloud to her.

"You did great," Eli said awkwardly and without thinking patted her on the shoulder like he'd seen Big Boss do to his troops occasionally, "You have, you uh..."

The thick leather of her straitjacket was cool to touch and his thumb was resting against the cold metal catch hocked through the belt upon her left shoulder, his heart leaping into his throat as he realized what he'd done. Tretij didn't say anything as Eli fell silent, instead just slowly turned her head until she was looking at the hand resting on her shoulder while her thoughts shifted with a flurry of unknown emotions. Eli snatched his hand away as if it was burning, feeling his face go scarlet in response.

A part of him was a bit surprised that he had actually been able to touch her; he half-assumed she was a ghost or intangible at best considering he'd seen her float through solid objects and walls with ease before. The other was embarrassed he'd touched her at all, feeling as if he'd wildly stepped over his boundaries for some reason. Eli mumbled out an intelligible sentence, leaning back with his hands in his lap even as his face continued to burn.

The silence stretched on until it was so uncomfortable Eli was about to get up and leave just to break it but Tretij moved first, very slowly reaching out and poking his bare shin with her foot. He twitched in surprise, trying to shake off his embarrassment.

 _What's wrong with me?_ He thought, frustrated as he dug his fingers hard into his knees. Maybe he was getting sick? After all, he'd never been near the ocean before now, so that could explain why he had been off kilter and flustered lately.

Tretij's soft giggling caused his attention and he looked up from where her foot was still touching his shin. She'd leaned toward slightly so he was close enough he could see her eyes through the orange lenses of her mask. Rather than inquire about his skittish state she just pushed forward an image of the parasites, the experimental strain Emmerich was developing.

"Right," He nodded, face still red as he struggled to think clearly, "We can use that to our advantage- Emmerich unleashing the virus and we take Sahelanthropus. We just need for him to fix it before he finishes with the new strain."

That was the plan he'd already told her minutes before but saying it aloud helped calm him down. Maybe he did need to go to the medbay to make sure he wasn't coming down with anything, or at least steal some medical supplies if he was becoming ill. He didn't want them poking him with needles.

Tretij on the other hand was obviously pleased by his words, a sensation he felt shift through said link even if her thoughts of Emmerich were tainted with disgust and a few other emotions he didn't recognize. Eli couldn't blame her; something about that man put him on edge. He'd been running around in the wilds long enough to recognize a viper when he saw one even with Emmerich's capricious loyalty in question. That man was just... _off_ , somehow.

He contemplated on it for a few more moments, thankfully banishing his lingering embarrassment as he sorted through the new- and extremely welcome -information she'd brought him when flowerless stalks lightly hit him in the face. Eli jerked back on reflex, shoulder blades hitting the metal headboard with a clang before he fixed Tretij with an humourless glare. She just stared levelly back, toes digging slightly into his shin before glancing down at the green stalks now lying in his lap.

"Oh, the flowers. Did you like them?" he couldn't help asking, a light blush reappearing along his cheekbones as he began to fidget nervously.

She gave a short shrug and Eli felt the odd sour taste of the flowers from her memories of yesterday night when she ate them. As for the tooth she apparently was keeping it close at hand, even if she was still unsure what to do with it.

"Nothing," Eli said defensively while ignoring her bemusement as he finally hopped off the bed and hurriedly began to yank his boots on, not looking at her as he continued talking, "I just figured you wouldn't mind...something of your own."

It was an exceptionally awkward finish but Tretij accepted that explanation at face value, even if he still felt the soft vibe of confusion and contemplation through their mental meld. However it was now coloured with a more subtle thread of appreciation which caused his blush to deepen even further. However she didn't stop him as he haphazardly knotted the ties of his boots before shrugging on his coat. When he glanced back over at her the psychic had already vanished without a word.

* * *

It took him nearly five minutes to calm down after that, still feeling flustered and uneasy as he went to the mess hall and had breakfast. It was only basic rice porridge this time but he didn't care, having eaten worse while running around in the wilderness so he just started methodically shoveling it down as he thought about Tretij and Emmerich. The man's strange actions were beneficial to their plans, even if Eli couldn't figure out what his motivation was. While Eli approved of his plans for Mother Base Emmerich seemed to have no loyalty for _anyone_ at all which Eli couldn't understand and held in extreme contempt. He didn't trust the Diamond Dogs or even like them but he could appreciate loyalty and this Emmerich man just had none of it at all especially considering all the rumours he'd heard about the man throughout Mother Base, including speculations about the previous Base and his past association with Cipher. All in all the Emmerich man was not well-liked. At most he was tolerated and that was typically accompanied by snide remarks and stories.

Tretij, on the other hand, certainly proved her loyalty to him.

Spoon sticking out of his mouth Eli swallowed down a mouthful of porridge. The information she'd gotten him was invaluable, certainly not something he could've done as quickly and efficiently as she did. There certainly seemed to be benefits to having a psychic around, even if his constant disorientation and anxiety around her in proximity was making him continuously frustrated and confused. Probably just a bug. In any case, he needed to shift his original plan since Emmerich's scheme meant he didn't have to use the parasites Tretij gifted him on Mother Base- the scientist would see to that outbreak. So what could he use the vial for? Another outbreak but he wouldn't risk using it on the base now considering the mutations developing with the other strain; it would be a waste in all likelihood with setting two strains on the location at once. It would increase the damage output certainly but without Mother Base's original neutralization plan, Emmerich's experimental strain would cause enough death as it was. That still left Sahelanthropus, however.

He was so deep in thought he didn't even notice the Diamond Dog soldier as she settled down next to him with her own bowl in hand until she lightly poked his shoulder. Quick as a snake she yanked her hand back to avoid the handle of a spoon being driven into it.

Flaming Buffalo just grinned at him even as she shifted out of range of his makeshift weapon, nearly-skewered hand lifted up in surrender, "Easy there, little man."

"What?" Eli snapped, not in the mood to talk. He had to straighten out his plot to destroy Mother Base while getting Sahelanthropus operational before that, not entertain some soldier who had delusions of friendship with him just because she helped him once.

"Just wanted to see how things are going, especially after our little chat yesterday," Buffalo said, keeping her voice low enough the few other Diamond Dog soldiers in the mess hall couldn't overhear. Eli glared viciously at the few who were watching them curiously and he was a little surprised when Buffalo joined in, narrowing her eyes at her cohorts until they looked away. She shifted her attention back to him, scowl turning into an easy smile.

"Yeah, doing great. Go away," he answered with a sneer, not even bothering to keep up the pretense of polite conversation. It was too early for him to deal with this, much less so now he had to iron out the rest of his plan to coincide with the new and valuable information Tretij had gathered for him.

She wasn't put off by his blatant hostility, instead just beginning to eat her breakfast while giving him small, secretive smiles every so often. When it became clear she wasn't going to leave despite his surliness Eli grumpily turned back to his own food. It wouldn't do to blow all his previous good behaviour to the wind just because Buffalo wanted to be irritating to him.

 _What does she even want?_ he thought irritably. Eli originally thought her helping him- or at least not ratting him out -yesterday was brought about by some misplaced kindness. He wasn't going to complain when it meant he avoided punishment or further scrutiny but he didn't understand why she was deliberately seeking him out this time. Even Miller seemed more than willing to leave him to his own devices more often than not, beyond the occasional lecture when he broke too many things or attacked too many soldiers.

Whatever, it was their own fault if they couldn't handle being stabbed a few times after being overtly nosy and obnoxious. Weak, all of them. That would be dealt with soon enough, though.

Buffalo speaking dragged him temporarily out of his murderous thoughts, the woman casually saying, "So, what did your _lady friend_ -," again she put that weird emphasis on those two words, "-think of your gift?"

"Fine," Admittedly said 'lady friend' ate one of the gifts in question but in his own defense Eli had no idea what people were even supposed to do with flowers beyond use them as food, medicinal supplies or poison. Luckily the ones he gave Tretij weren't poisonous, as that would've been a terrible conclusion of events. Could she even die from poison? Or maybe she was part ghost since he'd seen her go right through solid objects with no issue even if he did manage to physically touch her earlier. At least she kept the tooth.

Buafflo spoke up again, her voice calm and light, "Just fine?"

"Yeah," he snapped, fed up already with the woman's antics.

"Well, I suppose that's better than going bad," Buffalo shrugged, expression thoughtful as she took another bite of her breakfast. She chewed and swallowed before continuing, "Have any other ideas on how to woo your lady friend?"

"No." _What does 'woo' even mean? Probably some stupid military term. Why does she care?_

With an irritated noise abruptly Eli got up and left before he wound up actually stabbing the woman, perplexed and annoyed over her insistent attentions. He still didn't understand what she wanted, beyond the ground assumption she was trying to 'befriend' him or some-such ridiculous notion so he ignored her as she called after him and departed the mess hall. Determined to not allow Buffalo to corner him again he swiftly clambered up one of the towers on the base, lurking up high to avoid her and any of the soldiers.

He was still on one of the upper platforms a hours later, dozing in the warm midday sun on his chair when the loud, grating screech of a seagull snapped him out of his light nap; being trapped on a gigantic base in the middle of the ocean usually made him inured to the gulls constant screaming but now it was like the thing was right in his ear, making him jerk upright with a snarl and intending to kill the offending bird as he yanked his knife from his belt.

Instead he found Tretij hovering a few feet away from him with a thrashing seagull wrapped up in the overly-long sleeve of her left hand. The grey feathers of its wings were stark against the black leather of her straitjacket as it beat ineffectively in her grip, its yellow beak opening as it screeched. She wasn't bothered by the high pitched cawing, her covered hand steadily tightening around the bird's neck before Eli heard the telltale sound of snapping bones and the gull abruptly went limp with a cut-off squawk.

Eli watched as she shook the bird roughly, as if baffled by its sudden lack of movement and noise. A few grey feathers fluttered down from its limp corpse before being caught up in the persistent wind and disappearing over the edge of the platform.

"What're you doing?" Eli eventually asked, more curious than annoyed as he watched her shake the bird again as if she was suspicious that it was only playing dead.

"You killed it. Shaking it won't do anything; birds have hollow bones anyway," Eli said, relaxing back against the chair with the knife resting against his thigh, "They have hollow bones. I ate enough of them to know that so all you need to do is hit them and you can break their wings easy enough so they can't escape. When you twisted your hand you broke its neck."

She stopped shaking the dead seagull before dropping it with an irritated snort. Before it could hit the deck the bird abruptly stopped falling a few inches above the metal, hovering in place before slowly floating up until it was at level with her covered face.

Eli watched her with curiosity as she waved a leather-clad arm, the seagull's left wing stretching out like a small feathery mimic as she moved. It was odd, watching her use her powers for something so mundane like inspecting the corpse of a common sea bird. On the end of the thought Tretij suddenly gave a quick jerk of her hand and with a wet noise the bird's right wing was ripped completely off and fluttered to the ground. Ignoring the severed wing the psychic leaned forward until the muzzle of her gas mask was nearly touching the animal's feathered breast, her breathing and thoughts soft and steady as the gull rotated slowly in midair. Eli wasn't so sure why she was so enamored with the thing but he figured it was her business why she liked it so much.

Then she yanked her arm up hard and quick, causing the dead bird to shoot off into the distance like a small feathered grenade, flying in a broad arc before hitting a random Diamond Dog soldier who was patrolling along the other side of Mother Base right in the head. Eli let out a surprised bark of laughter as the man's startled yelling echoed up to them, having been nearly knocked over by the force that the dead bird had struck him with.

"Good aim," he praised her, flashing Tretij a bright smile with too much teeth.

She let out a pleased hum as she very lightly bumped her leather sleeve against his bare forearm before shifting her attention to the flock of seagulls lazily circling a nearby flagpole, thoughts curious and placid. Eli settled back in his chair, crossing him arms behind his head and closing his eyes before he went back to dozing in the warm sun.

* * *

It did get quite a bit stranger when he went to his room after a quick lunch of some weird noodle dish the soldiers called 'ramen' and sliced ham and a hard boiled egg- thankfully without Buffalo pestering him this time -to find nearly a dozen dead seagulls in his room however, including one carefully threaded through the metal of his bed rest while another hung from his ceiling from a curved stick of metal impaling its fragile body. Gingerly he nudged one of the dead birds with his boot, habitually palming his knife as he looked over at the feathered bodies scattered about the small area. No one entered his room- not even the soldiers and Miller just had a habit of just banging his crutch on the doorway until he answered, which meant this mess was most likely left by Tretij. Relaxing at that thought he moved further inside, looking over the mass corpses of sea birds. Most of them were on his floor, wings carefully spread out however some had their whole heads ripped off or were missing their legs. Feathers were everywhere, the white and grey plumage tinted in red. Speaking of blood, there were twice as many puddles of the red fluid spread about as there were corpses. At first he thought the blood had been splattered around his room randomly but as he looked closer at the red staining a portion of the wall above the desk he released the pattern was a messy circle surrounded by numerous shaky lines.

 _She drew pictures of the sun?_ Eli thought in bemusement as he touched one of the symbols with a gloved finger, smearing the still-sticky blood slightly. Then he felt an odd intense pressure in his skull, gently urging him to turn his head slightly. Confused, Eli obeyed and noticed that there were a heap of flowers jammed haphazardly in the gory neck stump of the dead bird splayed across his pillow, the petals in numerous shades of yellow and his eyes darted between the plants and the bloody art on the wall, realizing that it was a sloppy flower painted on the wall in the seagull's blood.

Eli felt immensely flattered, suddenly knowing without a doubt it'd been Tretij who had killed all these birds and given him the yellow flowers in response of his gift from yesterday. At the end of that thought he felt their link flare up with approval and pleasure, even if the physic in question didn't physically manifest herself in the room. If anything he sensed her retreat more through their mental meld, as if she was being deliberately bashful and Eli grinned as he looked at the bloody picture and flowers before glancing down at his bird-littered floor.

 _But just what am I supposed to do with these birds?_ He thought before picking one up off the floor by its wing while watching as blood started to drip down from the severed leg stumps. Eli gave a soft snort as he realized this must've been what Tretij had been feeling like when she'd got his gifts yesterday, unsure of just what to do with the things even if the appreciation for the gesture was still there.

Later on Eli entertained himself by throwing the dead birds at soldiers from where he was perched on the upper towers and even fed a few to his father's wolf-dog when he came across it, watching the beast easily snap the feathered corpses up in its jaws. Miller caught up with him while he was doing this and he got another lecture, even though he truthfully denied killing the seagulls. Either way, Miller apparently didn't want him interacting with the dog too much, citing the creature as being 'potentially dangerous' which made Eli internally scoff. The thing was a tame house pet for Big Boss and he guessed it was just Miller's rampant paranoia that made him point fingers and rage at everything.

Eli also overheard a group of Diamond Dog soldiers discussing the abrupt decrease with the seagull population around Mother Base. Whatever, the loss of those feathered rats wouldn't harm anyone. If anything, Tretij was doing them all a favour in Eli's opinion, killing all those vermin that plagued the base. Those soldiers should've shot them down long ago. But either way he made sure to dispose of all the seagulls in his room to prevent further scrutiny and lectures however he kept the yellow flowers and a few loose feathers, threading them through the smaller necklace he wore.

* * *

After the first four days of either having Tretij in his room or obvious signs of her being in there, he expected her to waiting or watching him again when he woke up the next morning. What he didn't expect was to find her lying on the foot of his bed, fast asleep on top of the blankets. Eli stared at her for a long moment, blinking blearily as his brain slowly shrugged off sleep while he was temporarily half convinced he was only seeing things.

Tentatively he inched forward on all fours along the mattress, trying to keep as quiet as possible while watching her slumbering form intently. She was curled up on her side, covered hands tucked under her head and thin legs draw up against her chest. The numerous leather straps attached to her straitjacket were coiled around her like brown snakes and he carefully touched the strip connected to the sleeve of her left arm, running his fingers along the cold metal latch before letting, gaze flicking up to the sleeping psychic's covered face.

Her breath was light and almost airy, the usual thick rasp of her gas mask softened from sleep. With his close proximity he could easily see through the orange lenses of the mask, at how her eyes were shut in slumber and the deep circles bruising the thin skin underneath. Not for the first time he wondered what colour Tretij's eyes were. Maybe they were green, like his? Or perhaps even blue like the ocean. Or her eyes could be some strange unnatural hue, like bright purple or potentially the same bloody red as her messy hair.

Her neck, ears and feet were the only part of her skin that were completely exposed and Eli stared at the consistent pulsing on her neck with abject fascination. The rhythmic, steady beat of her heart oddly soothing for Eli to see. Watching Tretij sleep, at seeing her completely vulnerable and trusting enough to put herself in such an unguarded state near him made something in Eli's chest clench painfully and he grimaced. Damnit, he really did need to go to the med-bay at some point and get something to help with these troubling symptoms.

Speaking of illness, while Eli himself was fair-skinned, Tretij's exposed skin was approaching the sickly white that came from prolonged isolation from the sun or sickness. He remembered the brief flashes of plain white rooms, cold lighting and faceless strangers in masks from when they first contacted each other on the helicopter, along with her odd fascination with things he now took for mundane.

 _Was she held captive like me?_ He wondered, leaning forward as he studied her sleeping form intently. His brows furrowed slightly in concern as he peered closely at the exposed sallow skin of her throat. While Eli had been imprisoned his handlers had at least allowed him to go outside for training- even if they kept a ridiculously close eye on him. One they'd even threatened to collar him like a dog if he kept trying to escape and considering Tretij was wearing a straitjacket he figured she'd been under just as much scrutiny and security as he was, perhaps more. Then again he still struggled to understand what she meant earlier by her mental 'enslavement' to Skull Face and the Man on Fire. Probably a psychic thing that he couldn't really comprehend.

This close to her however certainly was showing she looked more or less completely human, if not rather thin and pasty skinned to be considered completely healthy. She didn't have claws for feet or any kind of weird toxic smog surrounding her like those Skull people were rumoured to have, even if the soles of her feet and nails were surprisingly clean and in good shape for someone who never wore shoes. Then again he'd never witnessed her walk so footwear was redundant in her case since she just floated everywhere. Looking away from her small feet he shifted his attention to her ear, half convinced he would've found some tag or tattoo marking it. Instead it was just normal rounded human ear, half-hidden by her messy red hair. She certainly did have such nice hair, just the same shade of blood or fire. A good colour.

Ignoring the urge to reach out and touch the red strands, his attention was once again snared by the pulse beating steadily away at her jugular. Interestingly enough as he leaned over her slightly he spotted a tiny splotch of colour near the lower left side of her throat, just above the thick black leather of the straitjacket collar.

Eli was confused for a moment before he realized that it was just a mole, the brown spot of pigment stark against her pasty white skin. The small physical flaw was oddly comforting, humanizing her in a way no other characteristic had done so far. He could see no other scars or blemishes marring the rest of her skin beyond the mole and deep shadows he could barely see through her mask that bruised the underside of her eyelids.

It did make Eli extremely curious as to just _what_ she looked like underneath her mask; with the orange lenses he couldn't even tell what colour eyes she had the few times he'd been close enough to see them beyond knowing that they were light enough he could see her pupils as well. What if she had sharp animalistic teeth like jackal, or had those weird black markings like that Quiet woman occasionally had? He didn't know but despite his deep curiosity over the psychic's appearance he would never demand she remove the mask. She had her reasons for constantly wearing it and Eli didn't want to cause her discomfort or anxiety over asking such a thing from her.

It was strange, having such a level of concern and consideration towards someone he had only known a few days. Strange but weirdly comforting.

At the end of that thought Eli realized Tretij's breathing had shifted and her eyes slowly opened. He froze, guilt flushing his limbs and he quickly scooted away from her, averting his gaze and trying to act natural. She was unperturbed by his proximity, simply stretching slightly as she made an odd growling noise before fixing her attention on him. The two stared at each other in silence for a long minute, Eli sitting cross legged with his hands on his knees while Tretij remained curled up on her side with her eyes half lidded before Eli eventually cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Well then," he said, quickly putting his harried thoughts in order, "It's good you're here because I've been thinking over our plans since yesterday."

A spike of interest crossed their mental link but she didn't interrupt him so Eli continued, voice becoming more steady as he began to tell her his idea he'd been thinking up, "I know you're working on making Emmerich fix his giant machine, and I trust you'll achieve that soon. Meanwhile I've been thinking about the parasites and their potential."

Tretij simply nodded from where she was lying on the bed as he carried on speaking, "Since Emmerich is making his own mutant strain we can keep the English one for later use off base when we take Sahelanthropus. And I know from my previous spying that children cannot be infected but they can be _carriers_ for the virus. That is how the first vocal cord parasite outbreak occurred on Mother Base, a few weeks before I was 'brought' here," Eli said, a cold tone entering his voice.

A flurry of thoughts crossed their link as Tretij lifted her head slowly, eyes alert behind the orange-tinted lenses of her mask before an image of the child soldiers Big Boss had 'rescued' entered Eli's mind from her and he nodded, sharp and quick.

"Exactly. We need to find a way to get the other soldiers to come with us."


	5. Chapter 5

It was the perfect plan, Eli explained to Tretij, they need the other children to act as carriers and to also be a way to lure Big Boss off base to prevent him from finding out their other plans- mainly the parasites and Sahelanthropus. It would do no good for those two to be set off before they're ready, therefore they still needed to figure out Sahelanthropus before Eli approached the other boys. A basic time frame is what would make the plan work, instead of just throwing around things haphazardly and hoping they'd fit.

Smugness emanated through their mental link as Tretij slowly shifted upright until she was leaning against the wall next to the bed, her eyes bright and unblinking behind the orange lenses of her gas mask. A flurry of images, thoughts and sensations flooded through their link, most of them centered upon that Emmerich man and Sahelanthropus. Apparently she'd been doing more that just spying on the man since her discovery of his mutated vocal cord parasite experiment and after getting Eli's green light she'd started focusing on Emmerich and forcing him to their plan. It was odd when her thoughts shifted and somehow dipped into Emmerich's, hearing the man's mental musings and technological babble along with his strange, fluid paranoia and deluded narcissism. Then she initiated brief, shallow mental contact with him but did it in such a way Emmerich was unaware the subtle repeated suggestions to fix Sahelanthropus weren't actually from his own mind but rather stray thoughts she implanted directly into his head, something that would bubble up every time Emmerich got a break in his work or would glance out the window or door and see Sahelanthropus' towering silhouette. All it took were a few hours of this tactic before Emmerich's mind took the idea Tretij implanted within his head and take it for his own and Eli felt the surge of satisfaction fill their psychic link when she showed him the memory of Emmerich in the early hours of dawn this morning out and overlooking the towering Metal Gear. Emmerich had taken the mental bait and was going to repair Sahelanthropus. Then the memory shifted, of victory tinged with exhaustion, before her warping into his room which was followed by the weird sensation of seeing his own self asleep on the bed then her curling up at the end of the mattress and sleeping deeply before waking up to finding him watching her.

Eli shook his head, shaking off the disorientation of seeing himself from her point of view before looking at the redheaded psychic in wonder. It took a few moments for Eli to fully comprehend exactly what she was sharing with him and when he did all he could do was stare mutely at her in shock for a long moment. She'd somehow _mind controlled_ Emmerich into fixing the Metal Gear, subtly implanting suggestions into his mind and forcing him to do what she willed. No, what _they_ willed.

Tretij was _amazing._

She obviously caught that last train of thought from him for her entire body gave a strange twitch before she shifted away from him in a manner that hid her face from him- never mind it was already covered. Eli was too giddy over her news to notice the psychic's embarrassment and instead began to mentally run through numerous scenarios and shifts in his plan, especially now he knew for certain Emmerich was going to fix the Metal Gear.

"Do you know how long it will take?" he abruptly asked her, fidgeting on the mattress.

She paused before pressing over a series of thoughts and sensations she stole from Emmerich's mind before she left after spying on the man when he looked Sahelanthropus over.

Eli got momentarily distracted by her messy red hair, before he said, "Two weeks or so? Alright that's good, that's good...that's enough time to initiate my first plan with the other boys."

By inciting rebellion in them Eli was completely positive he could convince a few- especially those who he'd been close with at the Africa -to escape Mother Base. That would force Big Boss to go looking for them, since he had little doubt Miller would make his father to go retrieve the wayward children due to his weird protectiveness of them. By having Big Boss off base it would lessen the chance of him finding out about his and Emmerich's plan, allowing the two to flow on to completion without a hitch. Also taking the other child soldiers with him would help in setting up his own base; despite it, Eli knew he needed their aid at some point when he escaped with the Metal Gear.

However convincing the other boys, the ones who weren't under his command, would prove quite a bit harder. They were scared of him, he was well aware of that and was pleased with it, but it didn't escape his notice how they were gravitating more and more towards the adults and subjecting themselves to the Diamond Dogs authority, especially after Big Boss got back Shabani's necklace from the Devil's House. Eli hated that thing; his own two were so much better.

Tretij made a faint noise of agreement, finally shifting around and facing him again, her skinny legs tucked up underneath her. Eli could feel her attention shift briefly to his necklace, particularly the one with the grey seagull feathers and yellow petals threaded through it. The flora was slowly wilting but neither of them cared and a flurry of warm emotions shifted through their bond before she decided to settle on satisfaction, her mind still linked with his while Eli went back to mentally running through his plan.

It would take something jarring to knock that completely ridiculous and misguided admiration and respect those other boys had towards the adults, however. Something like one of them potentially _dying_ while in the care of the soldiers would be sufficient enough. While they did look to the adults, Eli had little doubt they still harboured enough kinship loyalty towards each other that one being killed at the hands of an adult- or in a situation that resembled such -they would turn against them and abandon Mother Base.

Nodding to himself, Eli decided on that plan for the other groups, however it wouldn't be something he implemented until Sahelanthropus was all but complete as a final push to make the other child soldiers aid him in his quest. Tretij didn't seem to particularly mind that he intended to kill one of the boys at some point, instead mutely offering to keep an eye out for any situations that would make the task easier.

They could do this, Eli decided. They _would_ do this.

 

* * *

Eli took it slow, carefully approaching the group he'd been the commander of in Africa. It was easy to convince them to follow him, though a few needed to be talked over more than he really liked. The sooner they were all off Mother Base and outside the influence of the adults the better as it took him an entire day to sort his troops out, along with making plans for a selective few to sneak off Mother Base at opportunistic times to help draw any attention away from Emmerich from the high in command; their whole plan couldn't be ruined simply because the engineer had no idea what 'subtle' meant and wound up being caught before fixing the bipedal tank.

Eli also decided, after some intense internal planning, that he needed to find a way to be separated from the boys when they finally enacted their plan with Sahelanthropus once the Metal Gear was repaired; with him in custody it would no doubt force the higher chain of command to interrogate him which most likely be Ocelot. By doing that he also guessed Miller would be present, as he was aware the man strongly disliked the Russian and would probably not allow the man to question him without being present, either to keep an eye on Ocelot or to make sure the man didn't harm him. At least Eli was finding ways to turn the man's inane protectiveness of him into a double edged sword; a fitting punishment for acting as if he was some stupid, hapless child.

Tretij spent most of her time keeping a very close eye on Emmerich, making sure the mechanic didn't get discovered before he'd finished the parasites and fixed Sahelanthropus. There were several instances where she had to carefully mentally nudge a patrolling Diamond Dog so they were unable to see any incriminating evidence of what Emmerich was working on, akin to how she made the adults unable to see herself while on base. That seemed to exhaust her more however but she brushed off any concern Eli exhibited over it and assuring him she was able to handle it. Grudgingly he let the subject drop, trusting her judgement.

As the next few days passed, with Eli focused on swaying more and more of the child soldiers over to his side and Tretij supervising Emmerich, their mental link seemed to grow stronger and more natural.

No matter how much distance they had between them Eli could always feel an odd pressure within his mind that would consistently point him in the direction she was lurking. It was like a psychic tether, always letting him know where she was even while she was invisible. Despite his initial apprehension about this new development it soon became a comfort, knowing he'd be able to find his ally no matter the circumstances. Though he didn't fully understand their mental meld, it was incredibly useful to have as he didn't even have to risk speaking aloud their plans when he was skulking around Mother Base, as she could hear him mentally easily enough. It was another level of security and privacy Eli greatly appreciated, especially after spending years under constant surveillance when he was imprisoned.

Eli was always aware of her feelings and general mood, even if she still seemed unable to just speak. It was like her emotions changed from a distant thunderstorm which he could really only understand when she was within his mind directly communicating him, to the calmly lapping waves of the ocean to the point sometimes he sometimes wasn't actually aware that if it was his or her feeling things at times if he didn't focus on it. Just a subtle enough mixing of thoughts until all he really needed to do was think about her and he'd be able to see her mind. Feel it. Whatever, he still found it fairly baffling and Tretij herself seemed bemused and curious at how their psychic link had changed since the Sahelanthropus incident. Then again, the redheaded psychic didn't seem to understand a lot about her own powers so Eli left it at that. 

He did, very briefly, consider asking her to try severing their link to one another as a very small part of him viewing it as a potential weakness, a dependency. However another larger part balked at the prospect. There was something profoundly comforting to know exactly what someone else thought, to know that they were on his side without any doubt. To know that they'd always be there and he was loathed to give it up after being so intently paranoid, anxious and alone for as long as he could remember. It was reliving, especially after he'd been forced to spend his younger years imprisoned then on his own while while constantly surrounded by enemies and allies he was suspicious of and now he was trapped on Mother Base in the middle of the ocean but with Tretij he was always privy to the overall feeling of her mind and he knew that she felt the same way towards him. It was immensely reliving to have an ally he knew wouldn't turn on him and that she reciprocated the feeling.

The other children on Mother Base were turning out to be more willful then he liked, however. The ones he commanded in Africa obeyed him easily enough but the rest were taking a while for him to persuade to his cause; there were still stragglers in his plan and those fellow child soldiers who were resistant to the plan, however, and so Eli spent an entire day sneaking around the other smaller structures surrounding the central Mother Base to search for something to give them a 'push', especially considering their two week time frame. Eli didn't care about the cowardly man that would bear the brunt of the rage from the Mother Base high command when they escaped with Sahelanthropus but if Emmerich was caught before the task was done then it would ruin everything, even with Tretij babysitting him and keeping the low level grunts oblivious. Getting the others off base and making those who stay resilient and spiteful to the adults would draw attention away from the mechanic until he was finished repairing the Metal Gear. 

But with the other, more resistant ones he needed to find the push and he found it in one of the facilities on the smaller platforms, amidst all the rattling pipes and humming machinery. At least the scrutiny had lessened somewhat, so Eli was able to get onto it without issue. He did briefly think of finding a way to get someone stuck on the animal base, since getting mauled by a bear would no doubt be lethal but after some long internal debate he discarded the idea. It needed to be quick and clean- or at least quick.

Tretij kept a close watch on him while he was stealthily creeping around the machinery, a reassuring presence as he eyed up the massive piping system while taking pains to avoid the Diamond Dog soldier supervising the facility. Among the long loops of metal and gears Eli could see several weak spots that would burst given adequate pressure, most likely killing anyone bracketed in the equipment instantly.

It would do.

After sneaking back to the main structure of Mother Base Eli quickly tracked down his group of soldiers he used to command and set about instructing them on their new tasks, namely foraging weapons out of anything they could get their hands on. Creating the illusion of threat, as well as completely making sure he was the one giving out the orders, would be imperative when he was later isolated for he had no doubt he'd be separated from the group when the plan was found out. That didn't really manner, what with Tretij able to instantly share information from him, but it also be another safe guard against Sahelanthropus being discovered too early, especially since Tretij didn't seem to be able- or at least willing -to influence Miller's or Ocelot's minds. He still wasn't sure why but didn't press the issue at her disgust and caution over the notion.

Killing one of his soldiers- or at least soldiers he felt a slightly disengaged connection to -wasn't an easy decision but it had to be done. He took great care to select the one who had the potential to turn into a liability or a traitor. He, after a great deal of through and discussing it with Tretij, wound up picking the second in command of the Mbele squad, the one the deceased Shabani used to command. That group in particular didn't seem to like him after the necklace incident though they still regarded him with appropriate wariness. That second in command, 'Ralph' seemed more than eager to cozy up with the Diamond Dogs while encouraging others to do the same. He was a thorn that needed to be removed quickly.

Cornering Ralph proved annoying but Tretij was able to pick his mind out on the base after a quick reconnaissance and Eli found him eventually. It took a lot of cajoling and threats until Tretij apparently got fed up and just forcibly rammed the impulse into Ralph's mind. This caused him to black out and Eli quickly got out of sight as a Diamond Dog troop came to investigate and Ralph got taken to the medical center. Tretij was fairly unrepentant and uncaring while Eli couldn't be bothered scolding her too much despite knocking out Ralph rather than putting him in their trap. It soon turned into a moot point however, as almost as soon as Ralph got released a hour later he immediately went to the facility in a dazed state. Tretij then promptly severed the weakened support among the pipes with her telekinesis when the second was in position, killing Ralph instantly.

Quick and clean, even if Eli wasn't too sure what Tretij had done before to Ralph. She just shrugged it off and he accepted it since she had achieved their original objective especially since he was still on the main structure getting badgered by Flaming Buffalo so he was completely absolved of blame for the incident.

Flaming Buffalo _was_ being an annoyance what with her always nagging at him and tracking him down, but Eli couldn't figure out a way to kill her without blowing his cover or coming under premature suspicion. It was irritating enough when he wanted something to eat since the woman had an uncanny knack for finding him in the mess hall whenever he appeared regardless of the hours. Eli found it obnoxious as he had to grudgingly admit the food on Mother Base wasn't anything he was going to turn down; eating live rats, bugs and fish raw hadn't made him particularly picky about his meals but at least on this ocean prison here they fed him well enough, from strange steam buns filled with red bean paste, sponge cake, herring pot pie, and poached salmon in some weird sauce.

So while he had a lot of negative opinions about the Diamond Dogs their food wasn't one of them. Tretij seemed to share that opinion since from her scattered memories he guessed she'd originally lived in an incredibly remote village and thus was used to eating basic food- or not eating at all. It did make Eli wonder when she ate but he didn't bother her after the brief curiosity about it as long as she remembered to keep on eating and keeping her strength up.

But Buffalo was an annoyance and Eli still couldn't understand why the woman insisted on hounding him or at least acting friendly while he stayed hostile and curt towards her. The other soldiers left him alone and even Miller seemed to be fed up with his attitude since Eli had been slowly getting rid of his obedient little soldier act and thus wasn't above snapping and snarling back. Buffalo however seemed to ignore that or shrug it off, even when he managed to stab her in the arm with his fork during lunch she just swore at him but otherwise didn't seem overly enraged. After a while he just dismissed it as a woman thing, since Tretij was weird as well and the men seemed to leave him well enough alone.

It got even weirder when that Quiet woman approached him; It was three days after Ralph's death and Eli was mentally putting together the finishing touches on getting the selected six off base when the woman approached him. He was sitting on the lip of a platform, legs dangling over the lip above the ocean with his arms crossed on the metal railing when she came up and leaned back against the rails and giving him a soft smile. Eli eyed her warily, unsure why she was even near him and acting so friendly, but she seemed content to just stand there in the sun after her silent greeting. After nearly a minute of tense silence Eli got up and left.

Buffalo complained to him about it later and seemed disappointed by the whole incident, which confused and annoyed him and was then followed up by Miller making a passing remark about bewaring women which only confused him further. He had no idea what those adults were on about and quite frankly the sooner Sahelanthropus was repaired and they could leave this place the better.

* * *

Eli grew more and more impatient as the due date for Sahelanthropus' repair date approached and leading up to the final five days he sent off the boys, taking care to keep the departures timed appropriately, sending off one then waiting an hour before going to the next, to stretch out the time his father would have to spend searching for them. This timed well with the increased insubordination of those left on Mother Base since as Eli planned Ralph's death struck a large blow against any trust the child soldiers has grown towards the Diamond Dogs, their rage over the death of one of their own overriding whatever loyalty the adults had managed to gain. Eli witnessed several incidents between the two groups with grim satisfaction and now none of the other child soldiers questioned his orders, even if some were confused by Eli's insistence that they made sure he was the one in charge and if they got caught with their homemade weapons to name him as such.

As they expected, sending the boys off had the advantage of getting Big Boss off base since Miller forced him to go off and retrieve their wayward wards. Well, 'forced' was probably too strong of a word and his father's previous behaviour and awkward attempted befriending of him just confused and enraged Eli so he just stopped trying to think about it too much. Those two had a strange protectiveness towards the children, which he was convinced was just some ridiculous trick and wouldn't tolerate it when they tried directing such attitudes towards him.

But with Big Boss off base, and Miller preoccupied with communicating with him Eli felt strangely apprehensive and Tretij started to stick more closely to his side as Emmerich's work on Sahelanthropus was nearing completion and from her spying he also knew the mechanics modified parasites were nearing their final stage and that Emmerich was planning to unleash them shortly after the Metal Gear was fixed. All in all, the mayhem that cowardly man was going to inflict on Mother Base would aid him yet again and Eli felt it was a fitting punishment.

However as scrutiny and suspicion on him increased- especially since he'd completely discarded his 'good soldier' act by this point -Eli asked Tretij to fetch the English vocal cord parasites from his room and she instantly complied. While he was waiting for her to return he stifled a groan as Flaming Buffalo approached him and asked him about the missing soldiers. Eli was surprised that she'd outright accused him since even Miller seemed more suspicious than certain but the woman didn't seem angry. Instead Buffalo seemed more disappointed than anything which enraged Eli beyond reason and he ended up stabbing her violently in the thigh. He got banned to his room for the rest of the day for that, but Eli didn't care. She deserved it, being foolish enough to try and manipulate him with delusions of friendship. She may have aided him once but that was it and Eli never assumed more unlike herself.

The next few days were a tense waiting game, counting down to Sahelanthropus' repair date while sending off the last few stragglers before Miller finally caught him. The man's crutch announced his arrival and Eli didn't bother restraining his outright disdain for him, even when Miller tried to lecture him about something irrelevant so Eli simply scaled up the nearly piping and found his chair up in the higher levels, ignoring Miller's cursing. It was rather entertaining as Miller's injuries meant he couldn't follow and so he managed to buy a few hours before he was forcibly captured.

He felt immensely smug when Ocelot eventually got him and put him in the Mother Base interrogation room. Apparently the idiots had finally realized he was behind the disappearances and were detaining him. There was only one seat in the ominous room that Eli was made to sit in and the smell of blood seemed to wax stronger when he sat down, ignoring how uncomfortable it was. A lot of people had been tortured in this place, Eli was sure of. He wasn't afraid of such a tactic being used against him; Miller's defensiveness towards children meant Ocelot wasn't allowed to torture the information out of him even if the man acted like he hated them all the time. 

While he was caught a bit earlier than expected, Eli knew how to buy some time especially since Ocelot got delayed by Miller before he could even start questioning him. As expected, the man took umbridge with Ocelot and the two got in an argument that lasted nearly an hour before they went and whined to his father, who was still off base rounding up the last missing children. From what Tretij's eavesdropping revealed, Big Boss wouldn't be returning until he rescued the current soldier he was hunting and thus it would be a few hours- or even an entire day -before he returned.

Eli had fun with that, making numerous snide insinuations and mocking comments when Miller finally returned, Ocelot finally being forced to concede. Judging by the expression on the man's face he wanted to slap him a few times but was restraining himself. Eli made no secret he was behind the disappearance of the other children, claiming he was doing it to free them and insisting the adults 'don't rob them of their freedom' and saying that bringing them back would have consequences.

Miller actually did seem pleased with Eli's talkativeness but he doubted the man had picked up his warning was moreso over Sahelanthropus being activated shortly and from Tretij's estimation that she stole from Emmerich's mind the machine would be finished within the hour. Eli had to grudgingly admit, the mechanic knew what he was doing even if his self preservation skills seemed completely nonexistent. 

At one point Miller left and Tretij switched her surveillance from Emmerich to him and she followed the man around while sending numerous quick updates from where Eli was still being detained. Seemed the useless adults had finally found the weapons he'd made the other soldiers craft. Miller later questioned him about that as well and Eli just made terse remarks about how they were soldiers and deserved to be on the battlefield just the same as the Diamond Dog troops. That seemed to greatly disturb Miller for reasons Eli didn't understand and the man left again. After that, he was in the room on his own- beside Tretij's reassuring mental presence -for over an hour before Ocelot came into the room and started speaking to him.

Tretij didn't like Ocelot at all, bristling silently at the man's proximity to Eli and refusing to mind read Ocelot too deeply. He found that fairly alarming at first but she didn't elaborate what the problem was beyond the feeling of deep revulsion towards the Russian, the same emotions that would usually radiate from her mind whenever she thought about Skull Face, as if she thought Ocelot's mind was sick as the deceased Cipher leader's somehow. He was curious but didn't press her too much; after all he also felt uneasy with the man's proximity but refused to show it. Instead he forced himself to remain calm and lax, either remaining silent or answering Ocelot's questions with short sentences. If the Russian was frustrated he didn't show it and as the hours trickled by Eli began to loathe the sound of his spurs as the man continually circled him from where he forced to sit in the blood stained chair.

Whenever Big Boss came back with one of Eli's wayward soldiers Tretij would immediately send the image to Eli through their mental link. He found that immensely entertaining whenever he brought up one of these retrievals, as with the psychic's help he was able to accurately identify which one of his soldiers were caught and when they arrived back Mother Base.

Seeing the look on Ocelot's face when Eli casually announced that information was satisfying, the Russian completely caught off guard at how Eli found out about Big Boss's return to the base, especially considering he'd been locked up in the interrogation room. He kept it casual and at ease, as if the knowledge had just came naturally to him during his isolation. They both found it very amusing, however, when Tretij very, very briefly skimmed Ocelot's mind and read his suspicion that Eli was potentially a psychic.

Despite his imprisonment Big Boss didn't come to see him right away, something which severely irked Eli. Instead he dropped off the three wayward child soldiers and took off again to find the last one and Eli had to swallow down the urge to curse loudly. At this point Sahelanthropus was fully operation and all Eli needed to do was give the word and Tretij would activate it. Instead he waited and when Ocelot returned after seeing off Big Boss he refused point blank to speak anymore, instead insisting his father come see him. After nearly half an hour of silence Ocelot had to concede and told him Big Boss would be returning shortly with the final wayward soldier. 

His room was also ransacked while he was detained but Tretij quickly assured him she'd gotten the parasite vial so he wasn't particularly bothered by it.

After a tense stand off with Ocelot Big Boss finally returned to Mother Base with the final solider and Tretij immediately alerted him to the man's arrival. A brief wordless exchange passed between them and Tretij quickly sent off the mental signal within the mind of the returning soldier, pinging off his earlier plan to Eli. The subtle mental nudge from the psychic caused the six who'd left Mother Base earlier to seek out one another and then forcibly commandeer the nearest helicopter while rounding up some stragglers. Satisfied they would succeed in their task, Tretij sent another brief image to Eli before departing to retrieve Sahelanthropus. 

Now all he had to do was stall for a few more minutes and he'd be free of this wretched place. With that in mind, he threw caution to the wind.

"Where is he?" Eli abruptly asked, jerking his head up and eyeing Ocelot.

The Russian didn't even blink at his sudden break in silence, "I told you, your father's not here."

Inwardly Eli snorted; his father had gotten off the helicopter ten minutes earlier and was now watching him through the one way mirror on the far end of the room alongside Miller.

Lip curling, Eli said, "They're back."

"Yeah they're back, but don't get any bright ideas. Your quarters are under full surveillance, your weapon privileges suspended. No more uprisings for you."

Eli grunted, stifling the urge to laugh. If only the old fool of a man knew. Instead he carefully exhaled, dropping his head down so he was gazing at the steel floor. There were still a few drops of blood staining the metal. He doubted they'd scrub out.

"Did you really think it would be that easy, Commander?" Ocelot's voice had softened somewhat and Eli heard the telltale jangle of the man's spurs as he approached with smooth, even steps.

It was harder to stop himself from laughing now, especially since he knew from the brief flashes through his mental link with Tretij that she'd activated Sahelanthropus and was currently killing all the Diamond Dog troops stationed around the Metal Gear. He swallowed thickly, body starting to shake slightly as he struggled not to laugh. 

Ocelot misinterpreted his movements, instead carefully resting a leather-clad hand on Eli's shoulder and reassuring him, "You'll get your boys back," the man leaned down slightly and continued with, "You'll even see the Boss, too."

Eli nodded, resisting the urge to slap Ocelot away. Then the hand was gone and Ocelot's voice took a sharper edge, "But first, I need to know what you sent them to do."

He continued staring at the floor, "They wanted to leave."

"To their homelands?" the Russian straightened and slowly circled around Eli until he was at his back.

"They wanted to go home," Eli said, idly gazing at a particularly large splotch of dried blood near his boot. It was the colour of rust in the glaring lights and he studied the old stain as he finished with, "That's all."

He couldn't help but hunch defensively as Ocelot's hands landed on his shoulders, the man's long fingers digging in slightly as the Russian questioned him, "So they were just homesick then?"

Eli's lip twitched, "Not quite. Militia warlords, PFs, the armies that murdered their families. Cousins, brothers, parents...they all had someone they wanted to kill."

To his relief Ocelot released him and moved with deliberate ease until he was facing him, the Russian's face unreadable as he studied Eli. He met the man's cold stare with his own even as the room abruptly shuddered, causing Ocelot to brake eye contact and glance around, brow furrowing in confusion as dust started to fall from the roof as the ground shook wildly.

This time Eli couldn't stop himself, leaning forward and letting out a short laugh before saying "I told them, 'last chance to face the world with no regrets,'" the room shook again, harder this time and Eli's lip curled, "You'd better be ready if you're dragged back here. Ready to face the world as enemies."

Then he burst out laughing, folding his arms against the back of his head as thick clouds of dust began to thicken the room as the entire building began to vibrate and shake as a massive force landed near it. He grinned widely, eyes looking over at the one way mirror, knowing his father was standing behind the reflective glass.

Then the entire back wall exploded outwards as Sahelanthropus effortlessly smashed its head through the thick metal. Ocelot went flying with the debris while Eli was barely dazed, Tretij making sure he was unharmed from the entrance even as she teleported directly into the back room, staring at Big Boss. Their vision warped and overlapped and Eli had the surreal experience of seeing through her eyes along with his own, as his father drew his pistol and squinting through the broken mirror before he spotted Tretij hovering to the side and tried to shoot her. She effortlessly dodged through the solid metal wall and into the interrogation room and their vision separated. For a moment Eli blinked, temporarily blinded by all the dust and vertigo before Tretij quickly directed him to Sahelanthropus' right hand, even as Metal Gear's face split open.

Eli paused on top of the machine's hand, peering through the smoke until he spotted his father through the broken mirror, half supporting Miller. Sneering, he pointed at Big Boss before shouting, "I'm not like you!"

With a fluid movement he jumped into Sahelanthropus' cockpit, settling into the small space easily as he grinned through the swirling dust cloud at Big Boss, "Good bye, father!" he jeered, not bothering to keep the glee from his voice, "I don't need you anymore!"

With a screech the top of Sahelanthropus' head swung shut and the huge Metal Gear pulled out of the building, dislodging more of the wall and causing the steel to screech. Inside Sahelanthropus' cockpit it was completely black and he was surrounded by the overwhelming hum and whirl of machinery. However he felt no fear in the confined area, instead allowing Tretij to tug his awareness from his body and seeing through her eyes again. Everything was tinted in orange but Eli could easily see through her perspective the rapidly disappearing Mother Base and the helicopter following close by. Tretij herself was hovering above Sahelanthropus' left shoulder, most of her focus being on keeping the vast machine afloat and in motion.

But before she released her grip on his mind the psychic allowed him to direction her attention towards the massive ocean base of Big Boss, slowly fading as the distance grew larger and larger, the hundreds of minds swarming across the structure flickering and fading like rapidly sputtering candles.

Then Mother Base vanished on the horizon and they were free.


	6. Chapter 6

Finding an island to use as a makeshift base had been surprisingly difficult, especially considering Mother Base's proximity to Seychelles but eventually he gave the order for them to split up- he and Tretij remaining with Sahelanthropus while the boys in the helicopter peeled off in a different direction with his specific orders. Then the two of them continued with Sahelanthropus until they came across an island within a salt lake in central Africa which Eli deemed adequate for the plans he had in mind.

They found a large clearing near the center of the island that would easily fit Sahelanthropus so without further ado Tretij dropped the huge machine down where it landed with a thunderous crash which shook the ground, the knee joints lurching heavily as the Metal Gear settled down into an almost crouched position near one of the waterfalls framing the clearing.

Tretij had been so exhausted she'd all but collapsed into Sahelanthropus's mouth as soon as Eli jumped out and she immediately fell into a deep slumber. After a bit of internal debate Eli left her alone; she'd been carrying the gigantic Metal Gear for nearly three hours using just her mind and Eli still wasn't sure how her powers functioned and whether or not her psychics strained her body or simply were mentally taxing.

Either way when Big Boss decided to come collect Sahelanthropus he'd need her in top shape, so it would be better for her to fully rest while they planned and plotted, rather than being tired and disoriented when the fight finally came to them.

He only had to wait a few hours before his troops found him again as it had been relatively easy for them to commandeer a jeep then a boat to reach him in the island and he was pleased to learn they kept to his orders in keeping the pilot alive; it wouldn't do to kill the messenger, though that would largely depend whether or not Big Boss reached the incapacitated man in time before he died from exposure.

He then spent the next several hours commanding his troops and setting up traps in preparation for the imminent troops, be they Diamond Dogs or Cipher. He knew enough from Tretij's memories of her time enslaved to Skull Face that just because the burnt man had been killed by them, it most certainly didn't mean Cipher would die along with him. It was too large, too out of control and he knew such an organization would loathe having a weapon like Sahelanthropus stolen from them. So he'd need to wait until they tracked him down so he could use the parasite so he'd need to wait until there was an adequate influx of adults since he already knew children couldn't contract the vocal cord parasite even if they could be carriers.

The next day he got his wish, however, as it turned out his assumption was correct; in the early hour of dawn his soldiers reported foreign troops circling the island with boats. When they finally dared to breach the shore and go into the thick of the jungle it was almost child's play to infect the XOF scouts with the parasite strain, after making sure his own troops keep their immature carrier versions of the parasite. Of course, the only ones he infected were the ones who managed to get pass the various traps his troops had laid out; countless XOF troops died to them.

Of the XOF troops his own infected he always gave them a single demand before letting them loose- that in exchange for Sahelanthropus he would accept nothing less than Big Boss's body. He wasn't foolish enough to believe Cipher would let the infected troops live, but there was the opportunity they would survive long enough to pass along his demand. Even if Cipher failed in that regard he knew enough from his snooping on Mother Base that the message would eventually reach his father.

Tretij seemed largely uninterested in the whole affair, despite him telling her of the plan repeatedly. A part of him desperately wanted to impress her, for reasons he didn't quite understand so he felt almost offended by her disinterest in his plan. That seemed to confused her, as if she didn't understand what he wanted from her and after some thinking Eli tried to ignore it and assured her it wasn't a big deal. She didn't seem convinced and took to shadowing him around when he left to oversee his troops, as if she wanted to keep an eye on him or was concerned over his behaviour.

While he felt embarrassed over her attention, he also felt inordinately pleased by it especially considering how the other children reacted to her; they held her in such obvious awe and fear- many of them believing she was some supernatural creature rather than a human like themselves. As such they were too frightened and superstitious to address her directly, instead just sending her fearful looks and muttering to one another whenever she floating by or hung by his shoulder like a wraith whenever he addressed them.

But like it was back at Mother Base she chose to only interact with him and while she would sometimes curiously inspect one of the boys- which made them fumble nervously and become panicked -before directing her attention back to him. After he finished doing the rounds with his troops and making sure all of them were well informed on the plan and making sure Sahelanthropus was secure he decided to go inspect the perimeter of the island; simply sitting idly wasn't doing his mindset any favours and he felt excited and anxious over the upcoming battles.

He ended up showing her a lot of the various flora and fauna he recognized while patrolling the island, while struggling to remember the scientific name of the plants and animals as he still felt the desire to impress her regardless of her inattention to what he was doing.

There were many birds, such as grebes, black herons, hamerkops, storks, rockfowl, ducks, bat hawkes, cranes, black-bellied bustards and even a lanky shoebill. However due to the island's location and the surrounding salt water lake it meant it didn't have many large forest herbivores or predators; the largest they came across was a warthog snuffling in the undergrowth which took off with a squeal into the bushes as soon as it spotted them and a wary caracal which eyed them from the upper branches of a tree they passed. Tretij didn't seem too interested in the animals and when they found the warthog and caracal he got some vague curiosity and faded memories of massive farm pigs and a ratty stray tabby cat from her before she carried on following him with no further comments.

Likewise she seemed as disinterested in all the flowers like the blue squill, estuarine pondweed, barberton daisy, foxglove, devils thorn and various other plants dotted around the island. Eli was confused over that, as he remembered Flaming Buffalo stressing how women liked flowers yet Tretij paid the flora bare attention; she seemed more curious in inspecting the droplets of water falling from said plants rather than the actual flowers themselves.

After a while he just dismissed the notion; she was unlike any girl he'd ever met so it stood to reason she'd have far different taste than the average female. Especially those foolish ones who followed his father. With that in mind he decided to forgo giving her anymore of those kind of gifts, especially since neither of them could figure out the apparent importance of the gifts.

Interesting enough she seemed far more profoundly fascinated with the various insects and bugs they came across; the giant African land snail- or _Achatina fulica_ as he proudly told her -fascinated her to such as extent she followed one for half and hour as it very slowly made its way across the ground, pausing occasionally to eat before it slithered up a tree. Eli didn't know why she liked it so much but after some thought he guessed it was because she'd never seen anything like it. While it was still difficult for him to piece it together and the language gap they had between them as she still didn't fully understand English, from the various faded memories he caught from her he assumed she'd grown up in a rural farm, one that had been fairly distant from any kind of true civilization or township. It was in fairly direct contrast with Eli, who'd been sealed up in high tech facilities and transported around cities for as long as he could remember.

Little wonder odd animals fascinated her, especially if all she grew up with had been typical farm animals.

However he woke up one morning after sleeping in his usual curled up position inside Sahelanthropus's mouth and found her sitting at the edge of the Metal Gear's lolling jaw, legs tucked up against her chest and looking out towards the horizon. She looked strangely ethereal in the light of the coming sunrise, with her hair glowing as if it were on fire while the lenses of her gas mask shined like mirrors. Clinging to her lanky frame were several bright orange butterflies, colour a vivid contrast to the black leather.

Even as he watched she glanced down before bringing up one of her covered hands, the overly long sleeve of her jacket flapping in the weak wind as she studied the insect perched peacefully on her hand. The butterfly's wings flexed before the insect took flight, momentarily fluttered in front of her face before landing on the snout of her gas mask as she let out a soft _huff_.

Eli felt his breath seize up in his chest and he could feel his face burning for some inexorable reason. Coughing awkwardly he slid upright, grimacing as the muscles in his back ached from the position he'd been sleeping in.

That caught Tretij's attention and she turned her head around, the butterfly still clinging to the muzzle of her mask as she glanced over at him with her head cocked to the side like some demented owl, breath raspy and calm.

He felt his face go redder for some reason and he quickly looked away from her, instead glancing down towards the ground that Sahelanthropus was kneeling on and at the other boys milling around the Metal Gear's feet. A questioning thought came from the psychic and when he tried to excuse his odd behaviour to her his voice abruptly broke, the last word coming out in a sudden higher pitch.

Tretij stared at him in confused silence and Eli felt his body flush hot for an entirely different reason; fear.

The sudden upsurge in that emotion banished his embarrassment and quickly he fumbled for the red hazmat suit, vest and mask he had tucked at the back of Sahelanthropus's mouth, jammed behind the makeshift seat. Within seconds he'd pulled them on despite the heated humidity of the island, giving an annoyed grunt as he tugged at the mask's straps while he secured it around his head. Tretij watched him mutely, butterflies still clinging to her, but otherwise didn't say anything about his frantic movements.

Instead she gazed at him a moment before looking back out towards the sunrise, wrapping her arms around herself as her attention left him. A part of him was relieved that she didn't question why he hadn't already put the protective gear on before unleashing the parasite but another part was slightly offend at her lack of concern towards him.

He refused to acknowledge that last part, but inwardly berated himself for not bothering to protect himself better from the parasite. He just assumed he wouldn't have to bother with his voice changing before the situation with Sahelanthropus came to an end. Regardless, he couldn't change it now so he just had to hope he'd acted quickly enough.

The rest of the day was like the previous- simply waiting for the reaction from Mother Base and Cipher. By now it had nearly been three days since he left Mother Base with the Metal Gear and he was annoyed at how long it was taking them to respond. He knew the adults were fairly incompetent but now it was just getting irritating.

As the sun rose and the day began to pass Eli was quite sure he could feel a strange burning feeling building in his throat, an itchiness that troubled him. He chose to ignore it however, rather than entertain the notion he'd gotten infected with a parasite that had no cure.

He ignored all of that and instead focused on preparing for the upcoming fight and dealing with his troops. It was annoying work to do, especially while wearing the suit. It made him feel like he was on the verge of getting heatstroke due to the heat and humidity and sweat continually ran down his back. However that all flew out of his mind when Cipher finally made their full appearance on the island.

It had been during the height of midday, with Eli lounging in Sahelanthropus while Tretij perched on the machine's head like some leather clad bird when Tretij suddenly jolted out of her dozing, becoming alert within seconds. Eli paused from where he was sitting in Sahelanthropus's mouth when he felt her sudden spike in attention, sending her a questioning thought. She didn't respond, instead focusing intently on something before leaving without comment. After a moment he shrugged and directed his attention back to the various buttons he was idly studying within Sahelanthropus's mouth, figuring whatever it was that caught her attention wasn't that important. She'd behaved oddly whenever she came across fauna or strange flowers so for all he knew she just saw a weird bird and decided to follow it.

Still, it was odd that she hadn't responded and after thinking on the issue he finally stood up, peering around the clearing Sahelanthropus was crouched in. As he slowly scanned the area his instincts began to nag at him, subtly warning him of impending danger. He tried to sense what Tretij was thinking but she was currently ignoring him, her attention focused so intently on something else that she was essentially blind to him.

He gave an annoyed huff but before he could think to call out to her a gun shot ran out, the noise being near deafening in the tranquil clearing and causing him to instinctively flinch backwards. It took a few moments to process the situation and found himself looking at Tretij's back from where she hovered several yards before him midair, slowly lowering the arm she'd used to swat the bullet aside. Below the other children fled to safety as Eli peered around, now noticing the various XOF troops scattered around below and up on the hill.

Then more gunfire rang out and he couldn't stop himself from shying backwards, a hand half raised to protect himself despite knowing Tretij was there and wouldn't let him be shot. As it were, Tretij just seemed annoyed with the gunfire more than anything, simply raising her hands and causing the bullets to halt mere centimeters from her before falling until they dropped into the shin-deep water below. The rockets four of the XOF soldiers fired exploded in the air around her and for a split second Eli felt his heart leap into his throat in panic but when the smoke cleared Tretij was still there, simply shaking her head and snorting slightly as she drifted back a few meters, completely unharmed.

There was no fear in her mind, just a grim determination and satisfaction which he couldn't help but latch onto, using her emotions to push down his own fear and apprehension as he righted himself. Slowly he surveyed the clearing, pointing at the XOF troops before he shifted and hopped back down into Sahelanthropus's mouth. With a whirl of gears the Metal Gear's jaw shut as it activated and he was encompassed in the darkness. However his vision warped and shifted as Tretij's mind melded with his own and, as it were back in Afghanistan, his sight shifted into what Sahelanthropus was seeing.

It was vaguely disorientating but Eli ignored that as he focused on killing the XOF troops, firing up the machine guns near Sahelanthropus's head and killing several of them as they fled to cover before pivoting the massive Metal Gear in place and shooting more of the Cipher troops up on the edge of the clearing. With a loud groan Sahelanthropus straightened upright, rising to its full height before leaping after the fleeing troops on the ground, crushing two of them underneath its feet as it landed before setting fire to the ground with its flamethrower and killing half a dozen more.

Eli was about to turn his attention back to the troops on the ridge when Tretij pressed firmly up against his mind, urging his attention down below to another mind lurking at the edge of the flames.

_Father._

With a shrill grinding noise Sahelanthropus crouched down before its mouth lolled open and Eli blinked at the sudden influx of light, his vision blurring between three; himself, Tretij's and Sahelanthropus's before his sight shifted back to his own and he found himself staring down at Big Boss who gazed evenly back up at him.

"I knew you'd be here," Eli said, voice cold.

"You're not a kid anymore," his father answered, "You can call your own shots. But at this rate you'll be dead before you have the chance."

Tretij bristled at the edge of their link but Eli felt an odd satisfaction at Big Boss's words. Thinking for a few seconds, he responded with a calm, "I'm free to die however I wish...Yes...Free."

With the hum and whine of hundreds of gears Sahelanthropus straightened up to its full height, to the point Big Boss looked miniature. Eli gazed down at him before saying, "You don't get the last word, father. I'll break the curse of my heritage...And to do that, first I have to kill you," with those last words, full of spite and anger, Sahelanthropus's mouth swung shut and he was once again enveloped in darkness before his vision shifted to the Metal Gear's and then the battle was on.

Like before Big Boss knew better than to face Sahelanthropus directly and darted to safety as quick as a hare. Before Eli could turn Sahelanthropus around and pursue him, bullets ricocheted off the Metal Gear's rail gun and with an annoyed grunt Sahelanthropus pivoted around to see several helicopters hovering around the clearing as well as the approaching tanks and jeeps below. It was obvious that this time Big Boss wasn't alone; he'd brought many of Mother Base's troops with him.

The one nearest to him let loose a barrage of missiles, smashing into Sahelanthropus's side and further damaging the Metal Gear's rail gun. With a metallic shriek he pulled the whip free from Sahelanthropus's waist and struck down the helicopter, sending flaming metal flying in all directions as the machine collided with the side of the clearing and exploding.

A low whine filled the clearing as Eli forced Sahelanthropus into its alt form, the rail gun stuttering slightly before powering up, the hum causing the water below to vibrate before he fired, shooting another one of the helicopters and blowing up half of a nearby hill. As soon as the rail gun finished firing three of the tanks shot it, the rockets cracking the joint of the rail gun and causing its power to stutter and die.

With a snarl Sahelanthropus shifted back to its bipedal form and pounced on one the tanks, crushing the vehicle underfoot and kicking another off to the side but when the machine lurched forward the helicopters took the opportunity to open fire on Sahelanthropus's exposed back plates, bullets and missiles colliding with the damaged joint and sending up billows of smoke.

Thinking swifting Eli straightened up the Metal Gear before releasing a ruddy cloud of metallic archaea into the immediate area. Hissing, the metallic archaea spread fast and rapidly ate through the metal of the nearby jeeps and a tank, rendering them inert within seconds. One of the helicopters didn't swoop out of range fast enough and dropped from the sky as the metallic archaea devoured the rotors and the machine hit the ground below in a burst of fire and screams.

The fight continued for near ten minutes, with Sahelanthropus growing more and more damaged as the battle dragged on and while they managed to kill scores of the Mother Base soldiers- both in the air and on the ground- the damage began to rapidly build up on Sahelanthropus as the fighting stretched out. Smoke began to vomit from the burning joints and parts of the Metal Gear glowed orange as the metal grew super heated from the constant barge of rockets and started to melt, further damaging the joints and causing Sahelanthropus to stagger and shudder with each step.

It reached an apex with the Metal Gear's left arm suddenly seized and, frustrated, Eli tried to force it up to use the whip once again a nearby helicopter shot the shoulder joint and with a groan the entire limb ripped out of its socket and went smashing into the side of the clearing. With a snarl Sahelanthropus twisted around and struck the helicopter with its remaining arm, swatting it aside like an annoying fly. But by then Sahelanthropus was more broken then functioning and the only thing keeping it upright on its partially melted and severely damaged joints was Tretij.

Which meant that when she got abruptly smacked into unconsciousness by a errant grenade the giant machine collapsed along with her. There had been a sudden, violent jolt of pain and then Tretij had been _gone_ and suddenly Eli had snapped back into his own body with a strangled gasp, disorientated and afraid within Sahelanthropus's mouth.

Then there was a horrendous scream of metal and Sahelanthropus's entire upper body suddenly tore free, the colossal Metal Gear bisecting as its torso crashed hard onto the ground and making the earth shake.

The impact nearly knocked him out as well and as it was he smacked his temple hard against the front of Sahelanthropus's closed mouth, momentarily dazing him. He snapped back to full awareness when Sahelanthropus's mouth slid open as the torso fell to the side with a low groan of protesting metal. The sudden influx of sunlight caused him to hiss and reflectively he reached out with his mind for Tretij but instead felt nothing. Panic began to set in and his instincts urged him to move and within moments he'd dragged himself out of Sahelanthropus's mouth, clawing at the side of the machine's jaw as he struggled to pull himself free. He glanced backwards and tensed as he saw two XOF soldiers rapidly approaching, guns at the ready. Even as he looked back at them he saw them point and then raise their weapons- the noise of the bullets striking the metal of Sahelanthropus and narrowly missing him spurred him into action and quickly he dragged himself up and rolled down Sahelanthropus's jaw and hit the ground below with a thud and a grunt.

For a few seconds he couldn't even move, pain radiating through his skull and making his thoughts seem like mush. He was only vaguely aware of the XOF soldiers as they stopped before him but when he managed to focus his vision he could see the pistol in vivid detail as it slowly pointed down at him.

He felt numb; there was not fear or rage, just a calm detachment as he stared at the gun at point blank range. They wouldn't miss, not this close.

Before he even had time to contemplate his death more gun shots broke out and he flinched, but rather than himself dying he saw the XOF soldier collapse, a bullet hole appearing in his chest. Struggling to drag in breath with his burning throat Eli tried to pull himself upright, hearing bullets flying by and screams of the dying. A loud _bang!_ signaled the use of a grenade but Eli paid it no mind as he groped at the rifle the nearest dead XOF soldier had been holding, all his instincts urging him to defend himself.

The bullet striking him in the chest stopped him in the process of loading the gun, the impact feeling as if he'd been struck with a sledgehammer. With a strangled yelp he fell over again, breath seizing up in his chest as his vision swam.

For several moments Eli couldn't move or even think, lungs locked up and irresponsible as a horrid pain radiated through his chest. It was only when he felt arms grabbing his own limp ones, propping him up against a rock did he manage to start breathing again, breath still tight and strutting but he could at least breathe again, even if his vision still swam.

Then he felt fingers fumbling with the latches of his mask and suddenly it was pulled free and he blinked blearily, unable to do anything to stop the Diamond Dog soldier from tugging down the front of his suit and exposing the bullet proof vest beneath.

An unknown voice said, "He'll be alright, the vest took the bullet," and Eli grimaced, trying to focus his gaze on the medic kneeling next to him. He wanted to shove the man away but his chest ached horribly and he struggled to move, as if his body was in shock.

"Get him on the chopper," his father's calm voice said off to the side, "We'll patch him up at base."

Eli shifted slightly at that, lips twisting down at the declaration; he didn't want to go back to that prison, he wasn't supposed to fail-

"Boss!" the sudden shout caused him a flinch and Eli turned slightly, glaring at one of the Diamond Dog soldiers as the man jumped back and pointed at him, "He's showing symptoms!"

A dozen emotions flitted through his mind; panic, rage, hate, fear, before bitterness and regret settled heavily over him and he glared, watching as Big Boss knelt down in front of him. The consummate sympathy in the man's eye caused Eli to curl his lip and bare his teeth as he hissed, "I was created by Cipher, and I was the flaw. My fate was written in my genes, I'm the loser," the bitterness in his voice tasted like bile on his tongue as he continued, "You. All because of you."

With slow movements Eli moved, struggling to raise his hand. He looked at the limb with detached interest, curling his fingers into a fist as he spoke, "I'm not me. I'm just a copy of you. I will surpass my father, I will destroy my father...destroy...you!" he punctuated the end of his shout by grabbing Big Boss's arm, a familiar rage flooding his mind and making his vision tint in red.

As quickly as it came it vanished, leaving him feeling cold and alone while he muttered bitterly, "I'll kill all of Cipher...I'll destroy your precious world!" his words came out in a poisonous hiss and he glared hatefully at the man in front of him. Big Boss effortlessly pulled his arm free and stood, and for the first time Eli noticed Ocelot hovering off to the side.

Another voice spoke, coming from the helicopter parked a few meters away, "Code red, code red! We need to go fast! How is it going over there?"

Ocelot and Big Boss turned away and while Eli couldn't hear the entire conversation from where he was still slumped against the rock he caught _napalm to sanitize_... as the adults turned away and he swallowed thickly, eyes widening when he realized what was going to happen. Ocelot pivoted neatly before strolling towards the helicopter, calling out, "We're pulling out, move!"

Eli stared, watching Ocelot's retreating back before his attention snapped to Big Boss as his father approached. He didn't move as his father pulled his pistol from its holster, aiming it steadily at him and saying quietly, "You're one hell of a soldier."

He instantly snarled at the praise, spitting out, "I will kill you!"

Big Boss didn't seem bothered by the threat, just regarding him leveling before smoothing reach up and ejecting the pistol's magazine and tucking it into his back pocket but leaving one bullet in the chamber as he said "That's right, don't blame yourself. Blame me," with that his father crouched down, leaving the pistol on the ground with slow, deliberate movements before he stood and walked to the waiting helicopter.

With a grunt Eli dragged himself forward, straining towards the gun waiting on the ground. He managed to snatch it up with shaking movements, still sprawled out on his front as he aimed down the barrel at Big Boss's back as the man walked to the helicopter.

He didn't fire.

Instead with slow, painful movements Eli managed to stagger back to his feet, breath tight and pained. Behind him Sahelanthropus's remains were lifted off the ground and borne into the air with the cargo helicopters. In front of him the helicopter Big Boss had boarded also took to the air. He watched, numb, as Sahelanthropus and Big Boss were carried up into the air and slowly flew off.

_Napalm to sanitize._

He remembered from the memories he'd shared with Tretij, of her agony of being burnt, of feeling flesh melting and boiling. With that in mind along with the itchiness in his throat Eli slowly raised the pistol and pointed it at the side of his head, the metal cold against his skin. He ignored how his vision swam with unshed tears, reasoning it as a side effect from all the smoke as he watched the helicopters disappear over the horizon.

Exhaling quietly his finger curled over the trigger of the pistol and his eyes slid shut.

He didn't fire.

Instead it felt like his limbs had suddenly locked up and a familiar heavy breath sounded out behind him and Eli's eyes opened as a familiar mind pressed up against his own. Through no will of his own his arm twisted to the side and his hand spasmed open, dropping the pistol onto the ground. He blinked and suddenly Tretij was right there in front of him, red hair messy with broken twigs and stray leaves, the left lens of her mask cracked.

He stared at her, struggling to understand that she'd come back for him when her attention shifted, moving from his face and down towards his throat. With a slow, exaggerated movement she raised a leather-clad hand and Eli felt his throat twist and seize before something was torn free and making him choke slightly. He caught a glimpse of a squirming mess of _something_ hovering in the air before him before Tretij flicked it into a nearby flaming wreck with a disgusted huff.

Eli rubbed at his sore throat, swallowing thickly as he realized that she'd somehow fixed an incurable parasite without a second thought. Ignoring his internal turmoil Tretij drifted past him, attention shifting up towards the sky. Shaking off his daze Eli turned around, his ears picking up what had caught her attention- the high pitch screech of approaching jet engines.

The napalm droppers, no doubt.

He still felt as if he was in shock, everything seeming as if it was happening at a distance as he stumbled forward a few steps until he was at Tretij's side. She glanced at him, head cocked slightly to the side before she offered him a hand, her overly long sleeve flapping in the breeze. He stared at the proffered limb, before slowly reach out and grabbing into it, feeling the outline of her small hand through the leather of her jacket sleeve.

He felt himself be tugged up into the air and he barely had time to see jets fly overhead and fire suddenly erupting across the ground before they were teleported from the island.

* * *

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _'Eli is still a child. He is still 'in development' and is physically and mentally not yet complete. He tries to play it cool but the truth is he feels weak and vulnerable.'_ \- Hideo Kojima.

One instant he was standing on an island holding onto a psychic's hand as fire exploded in front of him and the next vertigo seized his body and they were abruptly somewhere else. With a grunt he dropped a feet to the ground, Tretij no longer holding him upright. He stumbled and collapsed, vision spinning wildly and he dry retched. Thankfully nothing came up even if the taste of bile rose thick on his tongue.

Tretij didn't say anything as she drifted down and settled in a small heap on the floor next to him, breathing harsh and laboured as she curled up into herself. Eli didn't bother complaining; he likewise wanted to do nothing more than fall asleep but after a few painful moments he forced himself upright. He still felt like he was a few moments away from vomiting, but at least his vision was stabilizing somewhat.

The psychic was still curled up, her forehead resting against the dirty floorboards. However her breathing had evened out and even as he watched she slowly unfurled herself from the huddle on the ground. Exhaustion riddled her end of their mental link, along with intense dissatisfaction and something else he could identify. As usual, she said nothing as she kicked the heels of her feet on the ground before heaving herself upright in jerky movements.

It was strange to see her standing. Even stranger than her constant floating actually but even while he watched she straighten up slightly and drifted a few inches off the ground though she was swaying from side to side as if she were drunk. A covered hand touched the cracked lenses of her mask before she gave an irritated huff and shake of her head, thick red hair bouncing with her annoyance.

Eli pushed it from his mind as he sat up, still leaning forward on his hands as he breathed. It was difficult with the painful ache of his chest, with his sternum no doubt bruised from the bullet impact even if the vest stopped it from killing him. As such each breath was shaky and if he inhaled too deeply the pain got worse to the point his body started to shake. It was a different pain than being stabbed, instead it was something that directly impeded his breathing simply through the profound ache.

But eventually he managed to calm down, the spasms in his limbs slowly ebbing away as the minutes passed. After some fumbling he managed to push down the red hazmat suit he was wearing so its upper half was piled around his waist and he was able to pull off the vest, grimacing as the movement jostled his aching chest. When he successfully pulled it off, he curiously inspected the bullet still embedded in the chest, at the bullet his father nearly killed him with. Something lurched uncomfortably inside him at the thought and he angry threw away the vest, though in his weakened state he only managed to toss it off to the side. With that done he glanced around the dirty, abandoned shack Tretij had transported them to, noting the thick foliage creeping through the rotting floor boards and the forest outside the broken window.

Eli didn't know where Tretij managed to take them; it was most likely still somewhere in Africa but he didn't know enough about the limitations of her powers to truly speculate if they were indeed on the same continent. Either way, they'd survived thanks to her. Again. Even as he watched she wandered around the room, looking fairly normal for all the fighting they did earlier, but he could see the mud and twigs tangled in her red hair and the dirt along the back of her straitjacket. He remembered feeling her being knocked unconscious by a grenade or a concussion blast, which no doubt accounted for her dirty appearance. She didn't seem to care, instead peering curiously at the moldy books slumped within a lopsided shelf and leaving him alone. 

With a grimace he settled backwards on the ground. Everything ached; his throat, his head, his back, his chest. Everything just felt like a bruise and his hands wouldn't stop shaking. Eli inspected his hands, noting the small scratches and scars before his eyes slid up to his bare sternum, which had born the brunt of the bullet.

The skin on his chest was an angry red and already he could see growing discolouration as the bruise caused by the bullet impact began to spread underneath. Each breath felt painful, tight, and he couldn't hide a grimace as he inhaled deeply which made the pain intensify. He couldn't breath properly and whenever he tried to deepen his breaths the pain would intensify to the point he had to stop. Even getting mauled by the jackals or having his arm dislocated by Big Boss didn't hurt as much as this.

Big Boss.

He didn't know why he felt so conflicted thinking about the man now- he knew from the start Big Boss didn't care about him, that he'd simply been created as some twisted flaw by a bunch of moron scientists from their obsession with Big Boss. Of course the man would've left him at the first opportunity, would've left him to burn to death in a fire bomb. Of course the man wouldn't have cared if he'd died.

Eli knew all that yet for some bizarre reason it still hurt; not the deep pain radiating along his sternum, but something else even deeper inside. He tried to shrug it off, but it just made him think of the times his father had awkwardly approached him, tried to introduce him to his pet wolf or would try to congratulate him on tempering his mood swings. Of how the man had, briefly, acted how Eli thought an actual father should behave towards his son. It was stupid and foolish and Eli had no idea why he was reacting so badly to those thoughts.

To his horror he could feel his eyes burning as tears blurred his vision. With a grunt he bowed over slightly from where he was kneeling on the ground, his fingers biting viciously into his wrist as he struggled to fight back the tears. His breath was heavy and uneven, exacerbating the ache in his chest even as his nails dug bloody furrows up his arm.

The stifled noise that came from him was akin to a high pitched whine and Tretij paused in her rummaging across the room to eye him with concern. 

Panic gripped him at her attention, along with the overwhelming horror of someone being witness to him crying. He hadn't cried in years; it was something weak, showing such a profound flaw in front of his only ally, an ally who obviously chose to follow him over everyone else and now he was being pathetic and weak in front of and despite everything he shouldn't be crying despite the fact he nearly _died_.

Finally he lost the battle to force back his tears and they started to stream down his face, hot and thick as horrible, wounded noises escaped him. Eli was partially doubled over, an arm drawn tight across his chest and nails sinking deep into his forearm and leaving bloody marks in a failed attempt to stop his sobbing. The spasms from his crying caused the ache in his bruised chest to flare up and the combination of his panic, pain and emotional overload caused him to all but collapse, leaving him blind to everything else as he sobbed.

After what felt like hours he slowly calmed down, tears and mucus staining his face while pain radiated through his body. He felt even more exhausted, swaying back and forth as he struggled to regain any type of composure and completely blind to the presence pressed tight against his right side. His eyes burned as he rubbed at them with the heel of a palm, sniffing loudly as he tried to wipe away his tears ineffectively. When he finally did come back to himself and at least alert of his surroundings, he belatedly realized Tretij had settled down next to him, her smaller body supporting his side and the muzzle of her mask bumping against his shoulder when she twitched.

Eli shifted as he looked at her before glancing down, belatedly noticing that her small hand was gripping his wrist, pale fingers digging into his skin. Her nails were too long and jagged at the edges, as if she gnawed on them in her spare time. Due to how sickly white her flesh was Eli assumed her skin would've been cold and clammy like the belly of a dead fish but instead it was warm and soft.

Her palm and fingers were completely devoid of any scars or callouses; for some reason Eli would've thought her psychics produced a toll on her body, or causing scarring or _something_ but no, when he ran his fingers along hers the flesh was unblemished. The contrast between their hands was unduly fascinating to Eli as he carefully put his other hand over the one she'd had clasped around his wrist. The back of his hands had numerous nicks and scratches, with his left having ragged scarring around the meat between his index and thumb- an old souvenir from the jackals that attacked him so long ago. 

Compared with hers, his skin seemed so much darker and worn down. Her flesh appeared artificial to him, both too white and soft despite all the carnage he'd seen her wrought.

And they were so warm.

Carefully he squeezed her hand, feeling exhausted and hollow from his crying fit. The shame he'd felt had all but dissipated; there was no judgement or disappointment within her mind. Just a strong echo of his own fear, sorrow, shame and helplessness which began to mix with a warm, underlying sense of camaraderie and trust. It was a strange mix of emotions, especially considering how tired he felt so for the first time _her_ feelings washed over his own until his own ones were distant and muted.

He wondered if this was how she felt, back when Cipher had her. Enslaved to someone elses emotions and unable to block them out, at having them swamp out his own.

A leather sleeve cuffed him roughly upside the head, causing him to give a grunt of surprise. He looked at Tretij and blinked at how she'd leaned up until the muzzle of her mask was only inches from his face and behind the orange lenses of her mask, her eyes _burned_. Her emotions shifted violently, changing rapidly from sympathy and empathy to anger. To great offense; offense at assuming she was using him, like she'd been used before. Especially since she'd stayed with him, came back and saved him despite everything.

Tears blurred his vision once again and Eli blinked rapidly as he looked away from her angry stare. He felt shame, embarrassment, which tasted like bile in his throat. Though he was never one for showing weakness, the time to only ever show his pride and strength to Tretij was long gone. She'd seen everything, his abysmal failure and fall from grace and she still returned to him. Ever since they met and melded through Sahelanthropus she'd remained steadfast and loyal to him.

And then he'd doubted her; little wonder she was angry at his lack of faith. He would've thrown a punch in her position and he could feel the silent accusation within their link from her and in that moment he'd done something he'd never done before. 

Straightening himself up slightly he turned his head back and met her stare with his own and he apologized, "I...I'm sorry," the words were near inaudible and something twisted deep inside his gut at saying them. 

Tretij wasn't just his only ally now, she was his _friend_ , which was all but an alien feeling to him. The first one he'd ever had, Tretij was the only person he had ever trusted in his short, bloody life. If there was anyone that deserved an apology from him it was his only friend who'd repeatedly saved his life.

Despite their link, she obviously hadn't expected him to say that as she stiffened and her eyes visibly widened behind her mask. Eli stared at her as she stared back before the redhead abruptly shifted around, pulling her hand free of his slack grip. He just watched her mutely as she carefully shuffled around until she was settled down in front of him. Her thoughts shifted, from amazement and surprise, to such a deep feel of appreciation that it caused him to blush.

With an exasperated huff, she started to toy with the long sleeves of her straitjacket and Eli noted the slits right at the end of the sleeves which made the black leather bunch up around her left wrist while her other hand remained covered. It did explain how she'd touched him before without taking the jacket off, but such an obvious answer hadn't actually occurred to him due to still feeling dizzy from his crying. He chose to focus on that and the psychic's sudden odd behaviour, rather than his embarrassment.

For the longest time Tretij remained sitting in front of him, still and unmoving which he was grateful for as it gave him time to regain what scraps remained of his composure. However as the time stretched on Eli couldn't pick up anything through their mental link beyond that she was thinking incredibly intently about something in those silent minutes, her pensiveness broken when she inhaled sharply, resolution moving in place of contemplation. Whatever she'd been brooding over was apparently decided even if he could sense budding apprehension swirling within her mind.

Eli watched her as she shifted restless in place before she reached up with a hand and started to slowly undo the latches of the leather straps of her gas mask.

"You don't have-" he broke off at the sharp look she gave him through the orange lenses and their mental link broadened, emotions and thoughts flowing through and after a moment Eli understood her intention; she wanted to show him her face in exchange for her witnessing his emotional breakdown earlier, for seeing him so vulnerable and broken she was offering him to see her without her own final defense.

There was loathing and self-disgust roiling through the link on her end but that was all overridden by grim determination and Eli nodded, knowing she had made up her mind and wouldn't be deterred.

It was an act of trust on her part and he wasn't going to sully it by protesting.

He was also curious as to what she truly looked like.

So he remained still and silent as she stopped before pushing up the right sleeve of the jacket, freeing her other hand and then using both small hands to work on the leather straps from their buckles, loosening the strips holding the mask in place while using her psychics to slide the belts free. It took some fumbling before she had all the straps pulled out, but she kept the mask pressed against her face with a small hand for a long moment. Then she leaned over slightly, so the most Eli could see of her head was the thick hair and then she pulled the mask away from her face, keeping it a few inches from her.

She remained half bent over, her messy red hair hiding her now-exposed face. Eli waited patiently and without comment, apprehension shifting in his gut as the physic carefully placed her mask off to the side near his vest, before her other hand latched back onto his wrist.

For nearly a minute she didn't move before a soft, almost sad sigh escaped her and she very slowly tilted her head up. Eli couldn't help but jerk back slightly in shock when he saw the absolute ruin of her face.

Her face was horrendously scarred from old wounds, the most obvious case being that that the majority of her nose was completely burnt off. More warped scar tissue surrounded the lower left of her jaw and Eli remembered the memory she'd shared with him back on Mother Base, of being burnt severely within a fire she'd inadvertently created. Now he knew the true extent of the damage the fire caused to her, long ago.

A long, snake-like scar stretched from the right corner of her mouth before curling upwards and there was more scarring and old puncture marks along her thin lips, as if someone had literally stitched her mouth shut at one point. Another long scar sliced along her forehead, disappearing into her hairline and unlike the other scarring the one along her brow was red and slightly puckered, as if it had been inflicted only a few weeks or months ago, compared with the much older scar tissue forming the rest of the injuries upon her features.

Her eyes meanwhile were such a cold shade of blue they were encroaching upon grey, and there were heavy bags on the undersides of them that it looked almost like she had two black eyes. Eli wondered when was the last time she'd slept properly; she looked exhausted and there was something profoundly _old_ in her gaze, as if she'd seen and suffered through everything already.

Then Tretij lifted the hand not clutching his wrist, pale fingers lightly tracing the tattered scars along her lips before following the twisted tissue stretching from the corner of her mouth. Her eyes shifted, becoming even colder and more mocking while her lips twisted up into an ugly smile and she suddenly spoke, voice raspy from disuse and accent so thick he could barely understand her, "Am pretty girl?"

Eli blinked, shock rendering him mute for a moment from her speaking when he'd gone so long on the assumption she was mute. So without thinking on it further Eli blurted out the first word that popped into his head.

"Yes."

Tretij stared at him, her eyes steadily getting wider and wider even as her pale cheekbones began to flush bright red with blood until the colour of her face matched her hair. 

"I've never seen a girl with a face like you," Eli said, feeling his own cheeks burn, "Your face is..." he didn't know how to phrase it without sounding strange but he found something immensely alluring about her broken, torn up features. Judging how her face got even redder she'd picked up on his thoughts regardless and she started to toy with one of the long belts hanging from her sleeve in such a manner it hid most of her face from view.

She grumbled something in Russian under her breath, lips a pursed line. At the angle she was turned he saw a strange darkness in her hair, above her ear and without thinking he raised the hand not clutching her own and touched her hair, making the psychic freeze in place. Carefully he brushed aside the thick strands and realized it was a tattoo in the shape of a bar code, as if someone had branded her like merchandise. A flurry of images shifted into his head from her, of the faceless adults, white rooms, along with an influx of needles and scalpels. Just as quickly the images vanished, but the sensations left behind made him bare his teeth slightly. 

Moving his hand up from the tattoo he found the scar that attached to the one he saw on her forehead. Some wandering led him to understand the wound stretched the entire circumference of her skull, as if someone had actually cut her entire head open at one point. When he got back to the front of the scar at her forehead, Tretij had shifted her face back up near level with his, and she stared at him but made no effort to stop his touching of her face, even if her eyes bore holes in his own the entire time as his fingertips felt the dips and jagged lines of the healing cut.

Then he abruptly stopped, suddenly realizing what he was doing and quickly dropped his hand, feeling inordinately self conscious. Tretij continued to stare at him, mouth slightly open to the point he could see her croaked teeth and he felt the urge to say something, anything, to break the silence and her severe staring.

"I think you're pretty for a girl," Eli blurted out. Almost as soon as he said that his face got even redder, which only got worse at the incredulous look she gave him and he continued with, "At least the ones I've seen."

A strangled laugh escaped Tretij, torn lips curling up in a lopsided grin while humour and disbelief crossed their mental link. Then she coughed awkwardly, back shaking before shooting him an irritated stare underneath her red bangs, "Am not...am not, uh, girl. Am _boy._ "

That caught him completely off guard and he dumbly said, "What?"

"Boy," Tretij straightened up, some of the embarrassment leaving the psychic's pale features before poking him in the chest with a pale fingertip, "Boy, like you."

"You're...why didn't you say anything?" Eli asked, feeling rather dazed at the abrupt revelation.

Tretij shrugged, "Was funny."

"Why would you think that was funny?" Eli asked, staring at her- no, staring at _him_ -incredulously.

The psychic just shrugged again, "It funny. Weird and uh, you thought so strong was girl. So said nothing."

"Well, it's not my fault you look like one," Eli snapped defensively, hunching his shoulders when he remembered all the times Tretij had started laughing at him over the past few weeks which in hindsight was the psychic finding his confusion entertaining, "You're short and small and uh, pretty with long hair. So little wonder I assumed you were one."

Tretij's scarred lips pressed into a thin line, and Eli felt the telltale pressure along his skull that indicated the psychic was reading his mind. Tretij's face lost some of its skepticism, instead shifting into bafflement when he realized Eli was being sincere at calling him pretty. Eli wasn't really sure either, but he did find the Russian's ruined face appealing for some reason. Scars were where life had attempted to kill someone and failed, and judging by how deeply scarred Tretij was life had done its best to kill him yet he was alive and leaders like Skull Face were dead.

"But face is ugly. Others say it. So mask some why. Why you not..." Tretij struggled to say the words, his English failing him so instead he shifted to their mental link, the series of thoughts and sensations quickly revealing what the psychic was trying to say.

"Who's been laughing at your face?" Eli snapped, defensive, "They won't be able to if we kill them. Or you tell me and I'll put a knife in their eye and you can watch them die that way."

At least that got rid of some of Tretij's bitterness and the wonky-toothed smile showed up again. Belatedly Eli was aware they were still holding hands, but he couldn't bring himself to care enough to detach himself from Tretij's grip. At least with that sorted Eli hesitated and glanced around the shack they were inside, thinking over what they were going to do in an effort to shove away his self consciousness and embarrassment over messing up who Tretij really was. After resting they would have to figure out a course of action and he knew enough from Tretij he'd be more than content to just follow Eli's lead.

Truthfully Eli didn't feel like chasing after his father. Not yet, anyway. He still felt exhausted and oddly hurt- not just in a physical sense but in an emotional sense that he really didn't want to dwell on. So instead he glanced at Tretij who was chewing on his scarred lower lip while staring at the bullet stuck in the vest a few feet from them. He'd been so focused on his own revenge he'd forgotten about his ally's. He didn't want to deal with his father, yet at the same time he didn't want to run and hide. Instead he figured he'd settle for a compromise, without giving up his own pride in the process.

"What do you want?"

The question clearly caught Tretij off guard, and he glanced back at Eli in bemusement so Eli asked him again. The psychic just shrugged in response, the skin around his ruined nose twisting up at the face he made.

"Do you want to catch them?" Eli poked at Tretij bony chest, touching the Russian text on the straitjacket, "That's Russian, isn't it? I don't know much but I think it's...Leningrad school of powers? Psychics? I'm not sure. But were they the people who...?" he trailed off, eyes flicking up to the scarring along Tretij's brow.

Tretij seemed to think it over and Eli winced slightly at the bleed over in their link, and for a brief moment it felt like a knife was slicing across his own temple and he had to resist the urge to grab at his brow to make sure he wasn't being cut open. The sensation enraged him even further, so he divided to push more.

"We can catch them and kill them," he said, voice becoming ugly with potential violence, "You'd know where they are, wouldn't you? In Russia at least. We can do that if you want. Track them down and slaughter them like they dogs they are. Get revenge for _you._ "

His grip on Tretij's hand tightened as his thoughts turned dark and murderous. Tretij shifted at the spike of strong emotions, an answering glimmer of volatile intent lighting up his face as well and Eli grinned at him while asking, "Do you want to?"

"Da. Yes. Let do that. Kill them, make them suffer," Tretij said, raspy voice thick with enthusiasm as he nodding along and making his red hair bounce.

"We can hack them open like they did to you," Eli added, voice rising in pitch, "Slice open their heads and hear them scream. Make them suffer and regret everything they did to m- to you. Make them die screaming."

Tretij smiled at him all wonky teeth and scarred flesh while his soft hand squeeze Eli's own and Eli returned the gesture, his own grin much more toothier and showing gum as both their thoughts swirled with thoughts and images of violence and death, of the potential savagery they'd inflict upon Tretij's past jailers when they caught them.

"That's what we'll do," Eli promised, his malevolence over the events at Mother Base and the subsequent island vanishing at the prospect of their future hunt, " _We'll kill them all._ "

* * *


End file.
